Doggish Kind

The quadruped canine, be it the street dog or any fancy dog, hangs around and responds to your affectionate call when you throw a piece of bread or bone towards it. With the instinct not to be distrustful, it licks your shoes with all the love, affection and indebtedness. Dog, wild or domestic, is known for being maintained for centuries for companionship and has contributed to the quality of human life by its long association with and devotion to the humans. The positive effect of the canine on the well being of people is well documented. During the century's long association, the humans picked up a lot from it. The little creature had not however much to pick up from the fellow humans. Millions of the people world over own dogs just because they are good natured, simple and easily amused. They are faithful, loyal and of course man's best friend. During the Mao-Tse-Tung pet dogs were branded bourgeois in China and were therefore banned. In the 1990s however the same were shipped from Moscow to Beijing on the Trans Siberian railways. Dogs that sold in Russia for $ 70 fetched as much as $ 900 in China.

For Americans dogs are not exactly Mensa members either, but they definitely make better pets than tropical fish. Master is home alone and he suddenly starts choking on a piece of 'taken out' Chilled food and then collapses to the floor, dying. A pet tropical fish or for that matter a parrot is not going to alertly rush over to the phone, knock the receiver off the hook, dial hospital emergency with its nose and bark excitedly into the mouth piece until the operator sends paramedics. Of course, all the time faithful dog is not going to do all this either in the day to day life, though it can be seen doing so in a typical Bollywood movie off its master's increasingly blue face. But while it is doing this, it will never be thinking about sneaking away with the Chilled food scattered all about. It will on the other hand be thinking loyal thoughts about the master.

In a corner there in front of a butcher's shop it is one amongst many hungry souls. With all eyes to pounce on the piece of bone that the butcher chucks away, the canine gets visions that are largely need based, typical of animal instincts, nothing more than to satisfy its hunger. Unlike humans it does not manipulate, machinate, or conjure crooked thoughts of hoarding and usurping at the cost of its fellow canines. The cliché-ridden adjective tagged on to the "greedy" bundle of doggish flesh and bones can not think anything but trust, loyalty and sacrifice. It soon steps aside to let other carnivores to have their share, even if the butcher throws succulent mouthful 'Raan' before it.dd