The Lalu Story

In 2017, I had the pleasure of encountering Lalu, a remarkable dog with a beautiful coat that seemed to transition from brown to a captivating shade of red. Lalu, as it turns out, acquired his name from this unique feature. This meeting took place shortly after my return from the United States, and I was immediately struck by the regal and powerful aura exuded by this magnificent canine.

he didn’t know me initially and barked on me a few times till the time he realised that I also live on the same street.. and after that he was very amiable.. 

once there was another black dog who was kind of crazy dog and she used to bark on everyone, no matter stranger or living on the same street. Once she barked on me too, and then Lalu barked.. after that she went quiet and never barked on me.. perhaps Lalu told her that I was a local resident and she must not bark on me.. 

then I and Lalu were comfortable with each other and it kept getting better for next 6 years to come.. whenever I was passing by, he used to come to me.. in return I just used to massage his forehead.. he loved that feeling and so did I.. whenever I used to bring chicken, I used to feed him the bones.. we kind of developed a friendship.. 

and then there were times when my mom used to go to temple early in the morning. And Lalu accompanied her all the way, a good 350 meter distance.. he used to pass from the area which was not his, and yet he used to go with mom.. 

slowly we all started liking him.. and we were not alone.. 2 more families were fond of him.. he was always well fed by them.. 

time slowly kept ticking and Lalu got old.. he was no more as powerful as he once was.. a frail shadow of his glorious past.. he was weak.. then came the worst time.. he got infected.. his hind side was infested by some insects.. wound was huge.. he was bleeding through it.. felt as if it is the end of him.. doctors suggested euthanasia.. 

But We made some last ditch efforts and got him treated.. he started recovering.. we were glad.. deep down we knew that he is in last stages of his life.. but this recovery nonetheless was a heartwarming.. his walk had improved.. and we started believing that he will live through this season.. 

then he got infected again.. this time much worse.. he was bleeding again.. his wounds were seeping the puss.. leaving stenches all around.. alas.. we had no way to be able to treat him.. 

with heavy heart we decided to send him to a dog shelter where he could be treated .. we called a dog van.. they brought him in the van.. he was in pain.. he was distraught.. he realised that he is going away from his home of years. The place where he came as a puppy and where he spent his whole life.. he knew he will never return.. 

then he looked out of the window, in my eyes.. as if complaining to me.. asking me why are you letting it happen.. why are you taking me away from my home.. his eyes had exact same expression which my son gives when he wants to complain about something.. 

And that one look of Lalu choked me.. broke my heart to thousand pieces.. I had no words left, nor the energy.. tears were on the verge of coming out if not already out.. slowly the van left.. and with that went Lalu.. I came back and hit the bed.. showed as if I was tired. But in reality I just wanted to be alone till I could get a handle on my feelings.. till I can wipe my eyes.. till I am able to speak a word coherently..

Now we get updates of his treatment and his condition.. he is definitely in better shape.. but only question which I ask myself is whether Lalu understood that what we did was for his own good.. or does he consider us all a guilty who uprooted him of his own home.. perhaps I will never know..and no matter what he thinks, he is right.. only solace is that his pain is less… at least the physical pain.. I think I can live with it.. 

Lalu, you had been a part of our life.. and my command on any language is not good enough to be able to express what you meant to us and how we felt sending you away.. hope your last few months are not passed in agony.. see you on the other side my friend.. THANK YOU FOR THAT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.. 

God is Biased Towards Women!!

So recently my son developed rashes and it forced us to keep him without diaper.. but as babies don’t have a big bladder, he was soiling his shorts every few minutes. So shorts need to be washed and dried.. but even the scorching sun of North India wasn’t enough to dry them in time. Reason: shorts were not very thin.. so we decided to bring some underwear which were light..

so on a Tuesday noon, I and my wife set out for baby underwear hunt.. now Tuesday is the day when markets are mostly closed in my city.. so not many shops were open that day… furthermore it was a May afternoon when the temperature was around 45 degree C. Temp high enough to cause dehydration in a matter of minutes.. and sometimes deaths too.. so not many people are on the road either these days. .
We tried to find the shorts but failed. and as usual, me and my wife completed the ritual of fighting during the hunt.. eventually I convinced her to buy something called angocha ( a very light cotton based cloth mainly used to wipe the sweat and sometimes used as a towel).. this thing angocha is very light and plan was to make some makeshift underwear out of it.. she accepted the logic, given either the shops were closed or remaining opened ones didn’t have them, as not many people use it now..

but then the fate struck and my wife asked me to take a different route to home.. I asked why? She said she would like to take a chance on a road where on Friday evenings this sort of things are sold.. so this brought a smile on my face which didn’t go unnoticed from my wife… so she asked why I was smiling…

so I told her that I remembered a stand up comedian’s act in which he said that if you are going to catch a flight, and your wife suggests a route, you must pray that you miss the flight.. it will cause you the monetary loss, but you will get the lifelong right to have fun on her expense..

a few minutes later we were on that road.. and as expected road was empty.. shops were closed and I was grinning.. suddenly my wife asked me to stop the car.. out of no where she spotted a make shift shop which was selling this angocha.. but when she got out of the car, she found that he was selling those light underwear too.. now it was her time to gloat..

I was glad that she could find it as it helped my son but still it has been 4 days already and I am wondering what was that shopkeeper doing on a deserted road on a fucking hot day which was supposed to be the day off for the market.. . Or may be just that the gods wanted to tell me which is there favourite gender😂😂

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Humbled: once again

Well if you know me, you know how pompous type of person am I..specially I take pride in my science knowledge.. but as it often happens a with every self aggrandising type of person ie biting the dust, that happened to me too.. first by the hands of my mom, and then by my infant..

so as it happened, I was in my school those days and had recently learnt about center of gravity.. and the part which said that lower the center of gravity is, more stable the object is.. at that point I was considering myself no less than Newton.. then came a fruit seller in our colony and mom was buying from him.. he or I, don’t remember who, put the smaller apples below and bigger apples on top, on his balance . no wonders apples were all over the place.. then mom asked me to put smaller apples on top.. she had never been a science student, but she showed me who knew science better.. strike one…..

second time my 6 months old son did it to me.. btw, he remains few of the people if not the only person who had given me the looks of “don’t talk stupid in front of me.. I know much more than you “. we had just started feeding him semi solids and one fine day we gave him something savoury by mistake. And he started crying.. soon I understood my mistake and offered him water.. what I would have done, had I eaten something spicy.. gulp down a gallon of water. But he didn’t.. he rather wiped his tongue with my T-shirt.. his way was much more effective than mine.. and I was humbled once again.. Strike 2…

What Men Want?

It’s a question not asked often? I wonder why? For women, this question is asked like every other minute. I myself had done it.. don’t believe? Here it is.. What Women Want.. but again, why not about men..then answer came to me just yesterday..

Recently I saw a show about great Indian epic called Mahabharata.. and I got the answer..

there was a king named Pandu.. along with his 2 wives, once he went to the forrest for hunting and saw a deer a bit far, partially hidden in the bushes.. so he shot an arrow.. arrow hit the target but not the deer, rather a sage couple wearing deer skin and busy in cuddling.. arrow pierced the body of both, and life started slipping out of their hands..

their scream brought the king to them to find out.. and he told them what happened.. listening to it, sage cursed him that you will die as soon as you make love to a woman.. and saying this, the couple died..

King was mortified… for sometime he maintained his celibacy.. but not for too long.. one fine day he made love to his wife and curse came true.. the king died..

and this taught me what men want!!!

Don’t Rub A Woman Wrong Way!!!

So she had a good grip on English language but was lenient enough to overlook my mistakes, at least in public.. but once I & she were with a female friend of mine and just before that I had done something to rub her the wrong way..

and in that meeting I mispronounced “lion” as “loin”. And trust me.. she got her chance and trust me, she ripped me apart. Lesson learnt: don’t mess up with women. When they strike back, it hurts that much more..