Dog Takes Revenge

  Kandu, our Indian mongrel, was just 3 weeks old when I got her home. Being the youngest in the family, she was pampered the most. This made her a little stubborn and spoilt at times. As she grew up, she still remained stubborn. Whenever, we admonished her, she would go towards the staircase which led to our terrace and sit on the stairs, her back facing us, refusing to look at our faces. We had to then pacify her. My dad would call her nakhrewali.

Kandu had a strange relationship with our newspaper boy. If there ever will be a sport in flinging newspapers, our newspaper boy would definitely bring the gold for the country. Every morning, our newspaper boy would expertly fling the newspaper from a distance, directing it in such a way that it would cross our boundary wall and land straight on Kandu’s back. This would be followed by a small yelp from our nakhrewali.

Initially, we wondered if this was done intentionally, but later realised that it was just the timing which was perfect everyday. For us, the yelp was a sign that the newspaper had arrived and we would hurriedly run out to fetch it before our pooch devoured the entire thing in anger. When the time would come for the newspaper boy to collect the bill amount every month, he would stand outside the gate and not enter inside due to the fear of our dog. My mother used to go and pay him the money. Kandu used to watch this keenly every month, once in a while letting out a casual bark too.

One time, the newspaper boy came to collect the bill amount at the gate. Incidentally, he had a newspaper in his hand that day. Our pooch recognised the object immediately, and while my mother was handing over the money to the boy, Kandu jumped, snatched the Rs 500 note from her hand and ran away. My mother then ran behind her to get the note back and handed it over to the newspaper boy. “Your dog is notorious”, were the words from the newspaper boy as he left. We had a hearty laugh when my mother narrated this to us. All I can say is that it was revenge well taken. 

Never mess with a pooch.

😅😅😅

 

Published on New Indian Express:

https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/mindspace/2020/feb/20/dogs-hold-a-grudge-and-take-revenge-2105920.html

 

 Written By,

Shilpa Bhat,

Author of the book - Extracts...From The Life-12 Short Stories

Kindle Link - https://www.amazon.in/dp/B08V939P44