Tommy

 Tommy could sense that something was not all right with him, at the moment. For the last three days, the appetite had deserted him and the mere sight of food tray fired revulsion in his stomach. He liked to ponder over mundane things affecting the dog’s world in general and his own in particular. His familiar thinking posture – face resting on the folded front paws, tail tucked under the belly and lying on his left side or right side depending on the seriousness of the issue requiring contemplation.

Today, he was not even comfortable with any of these postures. Suddenly his sharp ears picked up a commotion down the street and on an impulse – he rarely breaks his reveries, ran out of the resting place to find out ‘what the noise was all about?”

A common sight greeted his eyes – milling crowd gesticulating and taking the role of on the spot judges, on something that had happened. He heard them dividing in to camps to argue for and against the victims and the culprit. Inching closer he saw a pool of blood, a broken spectacles, a dismembered man holding the leash attached to a pet dog, which had also suffered the same fate under the wheels of a speeding vehicle. Tommy could not understand why these people are still arguing even after the vehicle and the errant driver had run away from the scene.

Having come on to the scene, he wanted to focus his attention to find out “why the man did not let the leash go?” and “who made the fatal error of misjudging the traffic flow while crossing the road?” he paused and lifted his face heavenwards as if the answers were displayed there. After sometime, losing hope of getting any answer, he started to scrutinise the scene in detail. This exercise increased the Adrenalin flow and he became excited. He came to the conclusion that the flow pattern of traffic must have confused the dog- on- leash and the human wearing thick lenses. Caught in two minds, they might have decided to go through the crossing anyway.

Emotionally moved, he understood that both of them are not alive to tell the true story, except the broken spectacle if it could talk. The crowd of on the spot judges started to disperse after the arrival of policemen. He felt hungry all of a sudden and went around foraging for food. He decided to contemplate, in his favourite posture, after finishing a hearty meal and think about “Why he felt unhappy when the inhabitants of the house did not treat him well?”, “What was preventing him to enjoy the freedom without a leash?” and “Why people think only of a dog’s obedience and not accept that it can also think – in a dog’s own sense? Tom ambled towards his residence, in fact a dilapidated house in the neighbourhood.

Tommy understood the inhabitants thinking – we had let a street dog live near the house and his presence acting as a deterrent to trespassers is incidental. He decided to take the neglect as it is and carry on.

To be leashed or not had him thinking for a while. The incident at the accident site was still fresh in the mind. Attachment had not done anything to that deceased friend. Now he strolls like a ‘master’ of the walks and enjoying the freedom. He closed this debate and felt happy.

A dog like him thinking about people might be an attempt to climb a step in the ladder of reasoning. People, who think only about the obedience part of the dogs find it difficult to climb down a step or two on that ladder - may be because dogs do not exhibit ego. Tommy closed his eyes and realised that all was well in his world till he gets involved in events.

Events evoke emotions. The best remedy is to prevent the events from occurring. If at all not possible the next better option should be not to allow it to evoke emotions. In the worst case scenario, is not to spend time on pondering over it. May be many better things are waiting to occupy the thinking space.