Saw a notice about little pups available for adoption.That took me down memory lane,back to when I lived in Bangalore.We had just moved into the rather spacious bungalow, which was once a hospital during World War II.A huge compound with several trees and a garden greeted visitors who walked through the formidable gate. A day after we moved in,a nondescript stray dog sneaked into the garden and had her pups.We saw two the next morning.One was a ball of white fur with cute beady black eyes while the other was a drab brown.I fell instantly in love with the white ball of fur and called him Snowy.The other went to stay with my aunt.Very soon,Snowy was running all over the place.He hated a bath and as soon as I managed to get him snowy white,he would free himself from the leash and run into the mud,roll in it thoroughly and get as dirty as he could!As we were strict vegetarians,he was fed on milk and bread as we presumed he was too tiny to eat anything harder!The more we tried to treat him like a new-born baby,the more he demonstrated he was capable of chewing through anything!Visitors' shoes and socks were the earliest casualties! If he was left alone for even a little while,he would rip apart a cushion with unconcealed glee and scatter the cotton all over the place!He would dig up the newly-laid flower beds looking for hidden treasure in the garden!Yet we adored him.One day we heard a little commotion across the wall.We could hear someone yelling angrily about something.Within minutes,some women barged into our compound and shouted that our little pup had run off with her little chick which had trespassed into our area.My mother was shocked that somebody could accuse our Snowy of theft,that too of a chicken when he was a strict vegetarian!!Snowy was offended and for the first time,began to bark.He barked and barked his head off!The women were in no mood to listen and demanded compensation.Convinced as she was, of her little one's innocence,she paid up to get them off our backs.Minutes later,our little hero emerged,holding firmly, a dead chick in his mouth from inside my bedroom.He apparently had stowed away his prized catch under my bed before going all out to bark the visitors off the premises! My mother was horrified."How could you" she began,waving an accusing finger at him.Snowy though,was oblivious of anything but the half-dead chick at his feet,into which he tucked in with great relish.My mother was sorely disappointed that the little pup was no more a vegetarian.Snowy had a feast almost everyday,what with an abundance of squirrels,sparrows and pigeons sitting on the trees!As for beggars,they were his favorite brand of visitors.They left the gate open and walked in.He would startle them by jumping up at them,licking them well to express his gratitude and charge off without a backward glance ,to the first dustbin on the road!It would take me all of an hour to capture him,put the leash on him and lead him back home.To get rid of all the dirt,he was punished with yet another bath!He lived for a year,livening up each day,before succumbing to a heart attack when he turned one.We mourned his loss for a long,long time....
