Dogged if I can!

I wish I had a dog. A Labrador, maybe; or even a German Shepherd again.

I wish it was possible to convince oneself that it is a workable idea. At 1,100 sqft, the flat is large enough for me, but small for a tiny bundle of restlessness. The bigger problem - who will look after the chap when I'm away at work? One does not mind giving up vacations for the pet, but work! And one can't really depend on keepers and servants - they will mistreat the li'il guy; I've seen it happen too often. Indians as a people, are not as attuned to animal happiness as, say, the English. The countless times I've caught a keeper angrily belting the dog with the leash while on a pee-break, all because the dog had woken him up during the noon siesta, or is tugging in a particular direction, or simply to practise some whacks.

Then there is the problem of walks and exercising - where are the empty spaces in Mumbai? Where I live it is impossible to see a large enough park where one can exercise a young dog. They require vigorous physical activity, else they become moody, unfit and cantankerous. Nails grow to become talons and you can know that your dog is around at the way the nails tap against the floor. The 'parks' around my place are dust bowls fringed with debris. And they are full of kids - who, no doubt, face similar dilemma - where to play? A doggie-walk in Mumbai is a visit to the neighbourhood lamp-posts and garbage dumps accompanied by frenzied barking of the galli ka alpha male or the over-friendliness of tail-in-the-legs non-alphas.

I wish it was possible to have a dog at home now. While I was growing, I can't remember a time when we did not have a dog - maybe only those short months of despair at the passing away of the pet when we would promise ourselves to never, never again, keep pets - they die. But, once hooked, it is impossible to completely forget the joy a dog can bring in the life of a person, especially a growing child. So a few months later, another puppy would be yapping to welcome us home from school, peeing over the carpet at the sheer joy of seeing us. It would start, a familiar routine by now - and a very welcome one. Preparing the food would always be 'Mum's Department', the weekly baths would be shared, and romping in the garden would be a joint affair. Yes - we had gardens then. Not Mumbai.

Coming back to this maximum city, a dog ought to be the ideal companion of the single guy - me! A metrop ought to have the facility for its citizens to keep pets. I feel envious to see people in cities like New York and Chicago, Melbourne and Brisbane, everywhere, I would see dogs of all shapes and sizes being taken out for a run at all hours of a weekend.

Maybe I should stop moaning and just go ahead and get my Labrador puppy; after all, it is not as if mumbaikars have no pets. And maybe the pets don't mind the lamp-posts and the strays. Maybe I can get a keeper who is genuinely fond of animals - after all I have really not looked hard enough for one.

This time, it will be a tan Labrador.