Three Frozen Moments

It was Sunday morning and I had stepped out to run some errands. There is this dark alley between the compound wall and club house that one has to go through while getting out. Well, it is really not a dark alley, but narrow it is for sure! Barely three feet wide – you have to say, “Excuse me” if you see someone approaching from the opposite side. I met someone who would perhaps not understand “excuse me” and that too in this narrow alley. It was a dog. Thanks to Maneka Gandhi’s anti-dog sterilization efforts, there are a lot many stray four legged friends than you would care for. Now, when I see a dog approaching, I try to ignore it and go my own way. Likewise, in this narrow alley, when I saw the dog approach, I stepped aside. Now, some of us are genetically programmed to yield to left, some to yield to right. Some of us have also reprogrammed ourselves to yield based on the country. So, I keep left, and yield so the dog would pass from the right. But the animal has other plans in mind. He (or it?) wants to have some fun. So the dog yields to HIS right, like someone from the other side of the Atlantic. We are in front of each other. So, I step to right, and try to move away from the dog’s path. The dog also steps aside – now to his left and is again in front of me! Well…I try to remember when I was potty trained last. Images of newspapers reporting, “Dog mauls man” start flashing in my mind. (Serious situations call for serious thinking.) So, I again step aside in the opposite direction and lo behold – the dog’s there. What is happening here? We seem to be performing waltz like the characters in Swan Lake…. I think the dog feels the scare in the eyes of a human. But surprisingly, it has adopted a submissive posture by now – stooping neck and lowered eyes. I am happy at least there is no snarl coming from him. But this time, I stand the ground. No more waltz with you dirty fella – I say to the dog. Taking a cue from my frozen figure, the dog steps aside and walks his way…whew!

Those three moments with a mongrel K9 seem like never ending bad dream. But my heart rate eventually returns to normal and I go about my business.