Orange Peels and Marmalade

Lyka's first winter with us was soon after she came home and at this time we still hadn't figured out what foods she would and would not eat. So in the course of our experiments, I sat down to peel an orange one day. Lyka being curious about this new edible came close to smell and categorize the fruit into "friend/foe." Now we all know how the orange peel has a habit of squirting and this usually hits someone's eyes with accuracy. In this case Lyka got caught squarely and I can only describe her reaction as complete shock that something round and generally characterless could sting so much. She backed away and watched me warily, thinking this was some form of punishment I had devised. That day forward, you couldn't bring Lyka within 3 feet of an orange and if you brought the peel anywhere near her face she would snarl (gently) and let you know orange were no joke to her.

9 lives

Lyka loved car rides - she would happily place herself strategically on the back seat so no one else could sit and watch the traffic and the world go by. She would also proceed to drool and shed fur all over the backseat which prompted us to stow a Lyka sheet in the boot of the car on a permanent basis. You'd always know if Lyka had been in the car. The window would be marked with her nose having been pressed against it and if you were wearing dark coloured clothes, you could be assured that you would walk away covered in fur.

When we first moved to Madras and moved into our apartment, we would have Lyka be dropped off at my grandmom's house in the morning so she could wander about the garden and I would pick her up on my way home from school. This was to let her get some sun and generally get acclamatized to living in the city.

On one fateful afternoon, Lyka had been loaded into the front seat by the driver and I was sitting in the back, with her leash in my hand. Lyka liked the window down so her ears would fly in the wind. We were half way home when we crossed a bullock cart (the kind that uses emaciated bulls and occuppies the whole road moving at a glacial speed). Lyka never liked cows - it's that whole dog in the manger thing I think. She started barking wildly at the poor bovine and got extremely agitated. I was trying to get her to calm down when all of a sudden she leapt out the car window and landed on the road. I have no idea what she was attempting to do - perhaps being on the same eye level with the bull emboldened her. The driver screeched to a halt, having lost a few hours of his life I'm sure, and I nearly had a heart attack. Now remember Lyka's leash was still in my hand. If we hadn't been moving at 2 kmph trying to overtake the cart, Lyka could have very easily snapped her neck. Having recovered from my shock, I got out, seething at the silly dog's idiocy, bundled up the canine and put her in the backseat with me, her collar firmly in hand and all windows rolled up. Lyka of course thought it was a brilliant change from the monotony of being driven home and seemed quite happy about the events that had passed.

We learned our lesson and after that day the car windows would be rolled down only enough to let Lyka smell the world. Fresh breeze could wait till we got home.

Resolutions

I recently saw ads on the TV for adoption of Indian dogs - the mixed breeds who're saved from the streets. While it's too soon to contemplate getting a dog, now or ever, I've decided if I ever get another dog it shall be from the pound.

Chasing kittens

As I was going to work yesterday I saw a cat perched on a wall, very studiously washing itself. And as always, I though of Lyka.

When Lyka was about 2 years old and at her bouncy and energetic best, she decided that her favorite pastime was to make all the colony cats' lives miserable by lunging at them. There was this one morning where a kitten, who I'm certain was making its first foray out into the world having told its mother that it can take care of itself and it just wants to explore, wandered onto our front yard. Lyka, who was outside dutifully sniffing every corner of the house making sure nothing had changed in 12 hours, detected the slight movement and stopped still in her tracks. In such moments she often resembled one of large cats you watch on the Discovery channel who are getting ready to pounce on their prey. She crouched down and watched the kitten make its way daintily across our lawn. Now this little cat being completely unaware that there's a concept called dogs, was happily pawing at things and looking around. This was the moment Lyka decided to strike. Galloping full speed at the kitten, barking her sonorous barks, tail wagging madly in the air, I'm sure from the kitten's perspective Lyka looked like some kind of nightmarish monster. It ran to the nearest tree and somehow managed to climb up to the top branch and sat there, quivering and thanking its stars.

Lyka not having anticipated this, stopped short at the tree. She thought she would give the kitten a good chase around our yard till she got bored but this animal climbing a tree was unheard of. She looked up at the tree, very puzzled, as if to say "huh?? how come you can climb?" So she sat down, waiting patiently for the kitten to come down. The kitten of course had no intention of moving until this dog had been safely removed from its vicinity. Now I of course had been watching this entire proceeding and found the whole spectacle very amusing (I was 11 so don't judge me). But I decided to cut the kitten a break and took Lyka's leash, clamped it on her and somehow managed to drag her back into the house. She didn't like this one bit. I had ruined her fun.

The kitten noticed this turn of events and decided to slowly makes it way down. There was one problem though. It had no clue how to come down from the tree. When you're running for your life, I suppose some instincts kick in and climbing up a tree happens unconsciously. But coming back down is a whole different ball game. After much hemming and hawing and a few hours, the kitten managed to land on terra firma. Lyka by this time had lost interest and was fast asleep. But by some quirk of fate, she chose that exact moment to wake up and caught sight of the kitten again. Unfortunately I was too slow to stop her and off she went bounding in the kitten's direction and the kitten went straight back up that tree. It took about 15 min for me to stop laughing.

When that kitten finally made its way home that evening, it would have had an incredible story to tell.

Odds & ends

A life less ordinary

My tryst with dogs started at the age of seven. My grandmother was walking me home from the bus stop and as we were making our way through the alleys, a stray ran up and cuffed my leg. In my panic, not realizing that the dog hadn't actually broken skin, I shrieked and the dog ran for cover. But that was enough to put me off all canines for a very long time. Large, full grown ones at least. If I spotted a dog even 5 km away, I would promptly head in the opposite direction.

Then we had Lyka and I couldn't imagine ever being scared of dogs now. Having a dog brings you into this club of people - when we spot other dog owners on the road, we automatically smile at each other and look on fondly as the canines trot along happily smelling every nook and cranny of the road. Before Lyka, we may have liked animals, but not empathized with them. You never really realize how difficult it is for animals to communicate but how much they manage to tell you by just being themselves. Lyka, for instance, would lunge at stray dogs on the road, not out of aggression but mere playfulness. But being as large as she was, she would scare the daylights of the dog on the receiving end of one of her playful gestures. On the other hand, she was an absolute lamb around small children, knowing, even as a puppy, not to jump all over them and scare them. She would wait patiently as they would pull and poke and prod at her tail and coat.

My parents and I have often had this discussion and we have often wondered if we would be the people we are today had it not been for Lyka. I like to believe that having Lyka in our lives has made us better human beings.

A window to the world

One of Lyka's favorite pastimes in our house was to stare out the little cut outs in our balcony, at the general state of affairs on the road below and the sea beyond. On a particularly windy day, Lyka's ears would be buffeted by the wind and she would calmly watch the goings on of the world outside.