Namie and shamie on the streets

Either that i am getting used to Namie trailing behind or following me., or that i take great unknown pride in being the “pack leader” status that Namie has endowed me with.

Its only on the way that i realise the mistake in bringing her along to where i am headed., but never stops me from wanting her to come along. I took her to the BSNL office (close to a km from home) to pay our phone bill, i asked her to stay out and with that she knows she cant follow me anymore – thats her limit. I also keep checking on her as i wait for the counter to open.

Its noon time and the security guard takes a while to register that the afternoon activity has slightly exceeded the norm. The black blur now turns into a big biting problem. He tries to shoo away and i explain the relationship (b/w Namie and me) and therefore the 'stay' order. This puts him on high alert, and he wants me out, now he gets things running in the office. He starts looking for the missing boy at the counter and calls out for him, shuffles the queue, puts me ahead after making requests to other people in the queue - all the while checking on Namie outside with me close behind him, he repeats “ Madam, its going to bite somebody. Madam, people are getting scared.” The counter boy appears and is up to date with the happenings, he is in fits of laughter and i am not sure if it was really so funny but he just couldnt stop laughing all through while i was paying the bill. I started laughing too, and i get a reluctant smile from the security guard as i leave the office.

I even wanted to buy some veggies at the store downstairs. A fat dog was deep in slumber at the entrance. Namie usually avoids/ignores other dogs and even people, she is not in the habit of picking up a fight with dogs (infact her first reaction to another dog is play and tries to get friendly) or people (she makes a good exhibit of plain disinterest). So the dog was asleep and with the shop owner's assurance that he'd make sure the fat dog continued to sleep without being disturbed (adding “but its not my dog”) i went about the shop. As i was having the veggies billed, the clink of the keys in my hand woke the fat dog up. One look at Namie and all its weight sprung up (no way one could tell that it was fast asleep just a second back)....its started barking at Namie and Namie was great at defending herself and keeping the dog at a safe minimal distance. After much coaxing by the shop keeper and me, the dog stopped barking and immediately Namie tried to get playful with it and befriend him...but only to get barked at again. We left...turning around i see the fatso was curled up and motionless again.

I decided to save time by combining Namie's walk with my visit to IIWC (Indian Institute of World Culture) to return the books that were due 6 days. As usual i took Namie on the leash on my way to the library 'coz i dint want to run back home behind her if she got chased by some dog on the road, that would make it a silly decision to save time...depending on the quality of the chase. So all was well apart from the million stops that Namie wanted to get to know the dogs in the area – all in a sniff of the urine sample left at mysterious nooks and corners, we reached the place. I tied her to a railing outside and went up to return the books. I came back down and let her loose, now she'd follow me home and have all the time and freedom to sniff around the new streets.

[I really dislike putting Namie on a leash or seeing any animal in a cage or constrained, they'd rather be dead than their spirits broken...cant stand that]

[Namie is a dog of few barks and i do not know what childhood abuse she went through - she is and has always been (ever since i've known her – as a four month old pup that walked into our house) indifferent to people. I have never known her to attack dogs or people. ]