Dogs & doggerels

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Everyone knows that 'Dog' is a word that has many many meanings; online Webster gives about 20 entries for various 'dogs'.

But this post is mainly about the animal.

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The word 'post' in the above sentence reminds me of a repartee famous in our times:

The British tabloid 'Post' editorially called its rival 'Sun' a Dog; to which 'Sun' responded: "Our attitude to 'Post' is that of every dog to every post".

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And the joke about the lost dog:

The dog of a very rich man got lost in a crowd. He inserts an ad in the most popular newspaper of the town promising a fabulous cash award to anyone who restores his dog to him.

Next day he visits the offices of the newspaper to know the latest news of his dog. The Cub Reporters Pantry was empty. He asks the watchman accompanying him where they have all vanished, to which he gets the reply: "Aapka Kuttha dhoondne gaya". And then the sub-editor's office which too was empty: "Aapka Kuttha dhoondne gaya". Finally he goes up to the newspaper magnate's empty luxury cabin: "Aapka Kuttha dhoondne gaya"

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I took my parents on a long-promised 3-day visit to Varanasi in 1984. After covering all sights, on the last evening, there were two left out: my paternal cousin's home and Kala Bhairav's temple on the city's outskirts. My father was inclined to the first and my mother to the last. I cast my decider in my mother's favor and we had to travel for more than an hour in a cramped and creaky rickshaw to reach the temple. Apparently Kala Bhairav's watchdog guards the city and whoever visits the temple and wears the wrist-band for which the place is famous will conquer fear.

Dattatreya, a very popular God in Maharashtra is accompanied by 4 dogs symbolizing the four Vedas.

Mention is made in the Chandogyopanishad of Yama's two messenger dogs Shyama (dark) and Shabala (bright) who are sent forth to seek out those who are due to join their ancestors.

And in the Swargarohan Parva, Yudhishtir declines Indra's invitation to Swarg unwilling to part with the dog that followed him faithfully all the way up as his brothers drop dead one by one. Pleased with his devotion, the dog then reveals himself to Yudhishtir as his own father Yama.

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I had my first encounter (at age 9) with a ferocious watchdog at dusk in a chasing race in which I came a poor second and lost a juicy bit of flesh from my thigh. And had to take 14 painful injections one a day around my tiny navel; given a choice I would have gladly risked hydrophobia, but at 9 you are hardly master of yourself.

Then on I learned my lesson: when a dog chases you, you ought to come to a standstill posture like a statue and slowly bend down as if picking up a stone or chappal. Most dogs turn back and run for their life. All men and animals are scared of missiles, guided or not.

Then there is this Dog Star Sirius in the constellation Canis Major. It is possibly the brightest star in the night sky. I am told that in villages where no clocks were available, people used to reckon the time at night by the position of Sirius called: Sookh in Hindi (?). As it rises in the evening sky on a summer night it is a pleasure to watch its glittering VIBYOR colors. Its light is then refracted through thick layers of turbulent atmosphere that act like a randomly shaking prism.

In the late sixties I read a Condensed Version in Readers Digest of the powerful novel, The White Dog, by Romain Gary, later converted into a controversial movie. It is set in the Civil Rights Movement in the US: A white couple bring home a lost dog and adopt him; but discover to their consternation that he was an Alabama Police Dog trained to attack Blacks. They send him to be retrained to a black dog-trainer. And find that he trains him to attack whites, including the couple that gave him food and shelter. And it wails in its 'dehumanized' agony.

'Dog' is a pejorative term in some religions. Here is a limerick from my 'poetic' phase:

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Language goes to Dogs!

"Deccan Chronicle apologizes for its Banner Headline: 'Rahman Top Dog' ":


Slumdog offends slums
Top Dog wounds Muslims
Alien lingos
Upset jingos
As Big Dog smiles down Heavens!


Big Dog is the constellation: Canis Major

Posted by G P Sastry (gps1943@yahoo.com) at 10:09 PM

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And yet another:

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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Pet Rage Doggerel

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"A senior Punjab IPS Officer grabbed his security guard's AK-47 and emptied the entire 32-round magazine on two snarling stray dogs and ended up shooting his own gunman in his thigh trying to save his pet dog. He was booked for his cruelty to animals": News item on page 8 DC April 2, 2009

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"But soon a wonder came to light,
That showed the rogues they lied:
The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died."

----- Last stanza of 'An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog' by Oliver Goldsmith

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IPS Officer's Defense:

They tried to kill my dog, they did;
I shot the mutts with his gun, I did;
My dog I saved as I wished, I did;
The poor cur lost his head and thigh, He did!

Posted by G P Sastry (gps1943@yahoo.com) at 4:10 AM

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