Raju (1996 - 2008)

There are certain things which act as constants in our lives.....as axioms.....they are just there, since time immemorial.....

For eg: the restaurant DPs infront of Ruia college....or maybe the building Nilgiri in a lot of our bachpan ka memories in Anushaktinagar...

Raju was that fixture with Kamet.... It had been there in that building before most of the occupants moved in....When i shifted into Kamet in 1996 it was there.....a young juvenile dog not exactly a pup but not a full grown dog either..... through the years he fathered a hell lot of other pups and then grandfathered more and great-grandfathered some more....

He was without doubt the pack leader....and Kamet was hot property for stray dogs back then....is even now.....because of its close proximity to the small garbage dump nearby.....He defended his territory better than any husky or a bloodhound i ever seen..... He wasnt exactly the buildings pet and when the number of stray dogs went a bit too high and Raju's mate actually went rabid....the municipality were called in....all dogs went.... but not Raju.....he was the axiom man!!! and no one changes the ground rules ever....

People shifted into Kamet...shifted out (like me) but Raju remained fit as ever...

But now he is dead....

Fell in one of em dog fights.....got bitten bad and the wound got infected...i guess his old body didnt have what it had years back to fight the infection.....and the municipality van took him away.... and mostly not to some animal care centre..... I guess 12 years is a long long time for stray dogs to live.... and that Raju's life was lived well....he fought, he survived, he fathered loads of kids....what more can one ask for???

The thing i liked most about Raju was that he actually fought off other dogs when i played with them and instead head butted his way in. The other dogs obviously deferred, after all he was THE Dog of the area......

No aunty ever cribbed about Raju, Pradeep uncle fed Raju more regularly that he watered his plants, my Dad who stoned every stray dog, always as a rule, left Raju alone.....U see Dad had a theory about it....said that Raju kept the place free of other dogs....that without him the other dogs would shit on our doorsteps. Maybe, but i know the real reason.....cause u just cant remove the constants.....ever....

This blog is dedicated to the memory of THE DOG - Raju (1996-2008)

Because sometimes even the axioms change.....