Animal instinct

This is one of the most random rants on my blog.

I have been good with pets (animals) for a very long time now. In my childhood days, back in Kerala, I used to go to my neighbor friend's place to hang out and to play cricket and badminton. My friend, who was much older than me, lived in a big traditional house, and his family, since the time even they remember, have had cats as pets.

My grandmother used to tell me stories of how dozens of cats would line up on a parapet wall that which separated our compounds waiting to get fed. There was at least one litter of kittens at his place always, and I used to play with them for hours every evening. Kittens are always a bundle of joy and soon I started having a desire for petting a cat.

One of my friend's cats, an old she-cat, started to hang around my house around late 1992. She was trying to find a new place to deliver and nurse her new litter. I pleaded with my parents to allow me to have her as a pet. My parents finally agreed. She was my first pet. Since then, her progeny and their progeny have been a constant company to my family - well until my parents moved out of our old house to a new one in the middle of the city. By 1996, I had another she-cat in my apartment. She also produced a couple of litters, and one time, there were 11 cats in my home.

In 1997, my one and only dog came into my life. I had adopted Julie from the People For Animals shelter. Actually, I was not very comfortable with dogs until I became used to Julie. Mannerisms and behavior of dogs are probably harder to judge and accept compared to those of cats - in my case at least.

Since then, my knack for being with animals in general, and especially with dogs, has increased. Street dogs love me like crazy. I usually am greeted by friendly street dogs wherever I spend time in the city - at the bus stops, near a tea shop that I frequent etc. The same street dogs who start going crazy at beggars, people with sacks or turbans, and those riding in two-wheelers forget about the rest of the world when I'm around. They climb on me and chew on all parts of the body and clothing that I offer to them, thus making absolute fools of themselves.

That's very similar to what I am when it comes to being with people who I like - playful, friendly, and an absolute clown. Thus, I think I mirror street dogs. :-s

How I wish I could have a pair of cats and a dog at my apartment! I hope I start living my dream soon enough!