Twenty- five Seven

A tale of three dogs

January 28, 2024

Once upon a time , like all great stories start , there were two dogs living in a tall building in the densely populated city of Mumbai.

Luckily, the building had a lush green lawn and plenty of space so the dogs had a lot of place to play around in .

One was white Shih Tzu called Biscuit and a veritable fluff ball of sheer cuteness. Everyone in the building loved him especially since he was so different from the the other dogs who were big Labradors or fat out- of-shape Dachshunds and old, shapeless Beagles. He was a novelty.

And the other dog in this story, was a Spaniel . I’m not exactly sure what kind of a Spaniel she was but she had a beautiful, glossy honey brown coat and the most adorable puppy dog eyes.

Biscuit loved the fact that Raya was gentler than the Labradors and Retrievers who looked down their noses when they found him scampering near their feet.

Even though Biscuit was much older, and Raya a head taller , they loved hanging out togwther and looked forward to their morning romp in the garden .

They became the best of friends and unbeknownst to most of us became best buddies or ‘building friends’ and even visited one another in their homes !

Gradually, over time, Biscuit would find it hard to keep up with Raya’s energy and would indulgently look on while Raya yapped enthusiastically around him .

“Come on,” she would urge while Biscuit sat firm with his chin on his paws. He was getting old and would just sit around till he got his breath back and then join Raya half-heartedly in her game for a minute or two.

After a little bit of horsing around , the two would walk back home side by side.

Then suddenly Mariocame on the scene. He was a handsome brown Retriever with a burnished, coppery coat who was still to grow to his full size.

Even though he towered over Raya, she couldn’t help get attracted to him. Compared to Biscuit, he was boisterous and loud and he gave Raya a good workout. She was torn between her old friend and her new one.

But Biscuit understood.

The three of them would meet in the garden and Biscuit would gamely go along with Raya and Mario. A few minutes of frisky play was all that he could manage.

Then he would sit under the tree watching the two young ones run madly around the garden, barking and chasing each other .

He would wait patiently, till Raya and Mario came up to him, tongues hanging out and tails wagging .

And then, the three of them would walk back the path together and make their way home .

Ciao

A ‘Building Friend’ is peculiar to Mumbai where friends are made with playmates in the building. All interaction is restricted only to the building
The Mumbai Marathon

January 21, 2024

When StanChart sponsored the first ever Marathon, it was not only a novelty for the runners but equally so for the spectators. While I knew that the sun and fiesta would be on Marine Drive where the Dream Runners supporting various charities would be running, I preferred to be amongst the bystanders on Kemp’s Corner. This bit of the run is particularly challenging because it involves trudging uphill and down twice in a space of a kilometre or so.

It always amazes me why people run. Especially the non-athletic runners who seem to be pushing themselves to make it. I know people say there is a high that is unrivalled, a camaraderie amongst runners that only they can understand, the joy of having the breeze kiss your face and finally knowing that you have pushed yourself.

This morning I stood at Kemp’s Corner to cheer on the runners as I always do and . was amazed by some of the people I saw.

Early in the morning just as day was breaking there was a stream of people running down the bridge as they literally flowed past like a river in full cry. Even though they were five kilometres into the race, they looked like they’d just stepped out.

But on the opposite side of the road were the half marathoners on the last five kilometre stretch. They looked exhausted. Some of them were walking , some of them were wincing in pain . Of course there was the occasional runner who normally does the whole forty two kilometres and for whom the half marathon was a breeze . But these runners were few and far between and drew envious looks from the rest.

But all the runners except those really focused winners , perked up when they saw our enthusiastic support for them. Some of them smiled back in appreciation, some raised slogans for Shri Ram , the country and even our beloved God Ganesha who visits Mumbai every year. There was one pretty lady who broke into a jig while another participant dressed as a clown high fived the kids along the way . This time I found two ladies running with nine yard saris draped on their tights – paying hommage to the native women of Mumbai while two men ran with dhotis! One brave participant was wheeled in a wheelchair. And of course there was the occasional dog as well .

So all in all it was a fun event with 60,000 participants .

Luckily the weather was pleasant – perfect in fact for running and definitely perfect for the cups of tea and samosas that were being served at our cheering point !

So till next year ciao!
The Burger and the Train Ride

January 20, 2024

The Good Flippin Burger as seen on its website.

Train rides are the best way to travel. The best way after road trips. At one time I used to love road trips but these days with the frequent hold ups because of agitations, heavy traffic, bad roads or just bad luck road trips have become less enjoyable than they were when the roads were narrower, restrooms on the way non-existent and simple cars on the road.

On the other hand, trains rides aren’t much better either with crowded train stations, pesky vendors and of course the stinky toilets. But then if one has to go from place A to place B, one has to take some form of transport isn’t it? So trains are the better way to travel if there is no convenient airport at the other end. There is something comforting about the regular sound of the wheels going on the tracks, the scenery whizzing past and the occasional stops for seemingly no reason at all.

With my recent travels abroad, I think travel is not really on the cards for me. Almost every journey has some hiccups along the way . At one time I used to take these in my stride and laugh looking at the funny side, but these days I am getting increasingly anxious of what might happen on the way literally find myself holding my breath till I come home again.

Any ways, I find that over the past few months I have travelled a fair bit by trains. With e ticketing the norm, I had collected several e tickets on my phone. So when I went to Pune early last week, I was quite astonished to find myself sitting on exactly the same seat in the same coach that I was sitting on when I was returning to Mumbai almost a month earlier to the day. Marvelling at the coincidence of it, I told Hubby Dear to abandon his allotted seat in the same compartment told him to sit next to me. This is pretty much accepted in Indian trains where most passengers regularly oblige, especially since the tickets are allotted electronically and passengers travelling together may very well find themselves in different coaches or seats that are far away. Besides, the train attendants were quite confident that the whole trains was quite empty so switching seats wouldn’t be much of a problem.

So we sat down .

A few minutes later the Ticket Collector came along and admonished Hubby Dear for sitting on the wrong seat. To make matters worse, he was horrified that I showed him a ticket for the wrong journey! Before he could fine me or worse still make me get off at the next station, I found my ticket and triumphantly showed it to him. But it was still the wrong seat. However, the TC also assured me that the original passenger shouldn’t have much of a problem changing seats.

How wrong he turned out to be!

When the young man got on, he wasn’t too happy when we asked him to sit on Hubby Dear’s allotted seat. He grudgingly said he would have a look at the seat and think about it. I wasn’t surprised when he returned saying that he would like to sit on his own seat and made Hubby Dear get up.

I was quite miffed bur didn’t want to push the issue because I was definitely in the wrong seat. So I sat quietly and when the train began to move, settled down to eating my burger which was to be my dinner.

All was well till my co-passenger got whiff of the buff burger that offended his olfactory sensibilities as well as his vegetarian self. Before I could have the second bite, I found Hubby Dear back next to me!

It seems the young man regretted his decision of coming between the two of us and decided to go to Hubby Dear’s seat far away from the Good Flippin’ Burger that I was chomping on.

I’ve never enjoyed a burger more and couldn’t have been more grateful for chasing away the reluctant passenger with the whiff of a buff burger and restoring my preferred co-passenger in the seat next to me!

Ciao,