Saturday, April 9, 2011

It's a dog's world!



My dogg-o-phobia knows no bounds. Ever since I was a kid, the good old lords high above have presented me with instances which have reinforced my hatred (what I actually mean is fear) of dogs. This post recounts my top 3 'near death experiences' at the hands (or do I mean teeth) of the canine kinds.

Experience no. 1: The year is 1993, the month is October. I come back from school and head towards the creche (Working parents!). The creche waali aunty had a pomeranian named snoopy. Those were the days when my morbid fear of dogs had not surfaced, so I'd usually play with Snoopy. One fine day, I discover that Snoopy's heart is on its back, that is to say, that one can feel a dog's heartbeat through its back. Now, mind it, this is not a chhotu discovery for an eight year old. So for hours thereafter, I kept putting my hands on Snoopy's back to count its heart beat. I guess, I eventually ended up irritating Snoopy, 'Coz she bit me on my wrist!! All I knew back then was that if Dogs bite you, you need to get 14 injections in your tummy, else you die. I wasn't ready to get 14 injections (not that I was ready to die!) and hence never told my parents about the dog-biting instance. What I remember vividly though, is me counting my days to death!

Experience no. 2: The year is 1994. I'd stopped putting up at the creche post-school and would head directly homewards from the bust stop. In the open courtyard, in front of the apartment, a stray dog had given birth to puppies. Now, the only entrance to home happened to be through the open courtyard. And since, I'd trespassed on the dog's territory many times in the past few days, I never thought anything unusual would happen this time around. Well, except this time I was wrong! The moment that bitch (I mean it as an abuse, not as a reference to the dog's gender) saw me, she bared her fangs and started barking. Although hesitant, I ignored the ominous warnings and continued to tread on, only to be chased out of the compound by that Mother of the Devil! I ran and I ran and that bitch made me take two rounds of the apartment block before she headed off to take care of her young ones. And there I was, left in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the opportune moment to head back home!!! (I guess the dog left after an hour or so, which is when I finally could go home!)

Experience no. 3: The year is 2006. I am chilling out a friend's. This friend is in possession of a Doberman. A fierce and scary animal who'd remind one of the 'Grim' (of Harry Potter fame!), I'd insist on him being locked in/out depending on where I was (out/in). My friend, adhered to the regulation sincerely, till one fine day, my Dad calls up when I was at this friend's place (The dog obviously was loose outside). Not meaning to be rude, I took the call and walked outside..... only to be confronted by Lord Yama in his full glorious and ghastly form. The canine lunged at me without a warning.... I was left speechless and my heart stopped beating for about 10 seconds...It took me a couple of minutes to return to my senses...
It was the closest thing to death that I have ever experienced!... Never did I visit my friend's place again!

So that's pretty much why I am still scared of dogs... It still creeps me out to walk back to Peninsular park from the factory post dusk... The loud "Wooooooooo" of the Dogs reminds me of my Near Death experiences!!! What can I say.... I guess Emotional scars take forever to heal!!!



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