In which we almost get another dog…

…but don’t, to Topshe’s relief.

I really hate Diwali! Not the festival of lights, which is beautiful; but the festival of fireworks, which pollutes the air and our ears. Every year, so many dogs run away in panic and get lost. The ones that don’t run away are terrified. House dogs cower under furniture while the poor street dogs find shelter where they can. And who knows how it affects all the other creatures who have to put up with our unholy racket?

This year, a lost dog showed up at our farm, a female labrador with no collar. She was holed up under a hedge for two or three days. After some feeding and coaxing, she slowly emerged and, over the course of the next couple of days, recovered from her fear and depression.

We were shooting off WhatsApp messages, trying to find her family, but no one could place her. Looked like we’d acquired a new animal. Topshe was intrigued, but not very pleased. Fortunately the new dog, whom we named Mallipooch, was very placid and didn’t get in Topshe’s face. But she was getting frisky, and started accompanying us on our walks. Topshe does not like to be sniffed, especially while performing delicate functions; she prefers to do the sniffing.

After two days of this, our occasional help, Govindamma, showed up. And a while after she’d left, we found Mallipooch was missing. Some frantic searching and phone calls later, we found the dog had followed Govindamma to her nearby village. And you can guess the rest. The clever dog had recognised a fellow inhabitant and found her way home! Just like one of those amnesia stories that used to be very popular at one time. Her family had been looking for her and were thrilled to have her back. With a free blue collar thrown in. So, a real happy ending… but only until the next big noise.

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