In the footsteps of Thane’s most active dog-feeder

Text by Raju Bist
Photographs by Nimesh Bhandari

Some kind of sixth sense tells them she will be at the Vasant Vihar Circle any minute now.
When she does, the stray dogs excitedly congregate around her. Yet, they patiently wait for their favourite aunty and her two helpers to spread out the plastic bowls on the footpath. They receive her green signal and only then attack the rice, soyabean and chicken combination with gusto.
It is 8.35 pm and Namita (Call me Nams) D’souza is out on her fourth – and last – round of the day. Her energy level is perceptible, even though she has been up since early morning, overseeing in her row house the daily cooking of 25 kg of rice and 15 kg of chicken for 150 strays. She has been doing this for the last 12 years now.

The next stop is Tulsidham. Here, she has to only blow her Honda car’s horn and at least five dozen strays flock around her, their tails wagging incessantly. By now Namita is a familiar figure in many Thane localities and a passing lady tells her about a stray hit by a speeding motorcycle. It is lying injured and unattended outside a garage near Hyde Park.
Apart from feeding strays, Namita also looks after sick and injured roadies, often nursing them back to health in her house. There are four of them staying with her right now. “One of them has recovered fully but he refuses to leave. We keep him outside the door and he comes back right in,” she laughs.

Namita looks up the injured dog at Hyde Park and then proceeds to Hiranandani Meadows, her last stop of the day. At the garden here, she first feeds a litter of five cute puppies, born a few weeks ago.
For a long time, Namita lovingly looks at them slurping on the food.
A warm smile spreads over her face.
Rice donations are welcome. Please contact Namita on +919892844076

Forwards Ki Duniya: Count your blessings

A guy met one of his schoolmates several years after school and he could not believe his eyes – his friend was driving one of the latest sleek Mercedes Benz cars.
He went home feeling awful and very disappointed with himself. He thought he was a failure.
What he didn’t know was that his friend was a driver and had been sent to run errands with his boss’ car.

Rosemary nagged her husband always for not being romantic. She accused him of not getting down to open the car’s door for her as her friend Jane’s husband did when he dropped her off at work.
What Rosemary didn’t know was that Jane’s husband’s car had a faulty door that could be opened only from outside.

Sampson’s wife went to visit one of her long-time friends and was very sad on seeing the three lovely kids of her friend playing around. Her problem was that she had only one child and had been struggling to conceive for the past five years.
What she didn’t know was that one of those kids who was the biological child of her friend had sickle cell anemia and had just a year to live; the other two were adopted.

𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳
Life does not have a universal measuring tool, so looking at people and comparing yourself with them will not make you feel better.
Aim for bigger things in life but also learn to enjoy what you have.
Happiness doesn’t come from having everything, but happiness is making the best out of what we have.
Count your blessings.

Better safe than sorry

“Kya baat hain Sukhdev Singh?” I asked the security guard of our building. “Why have you kept the main gate open?”
“Kya boloon sahab? The lady lawyer who stays on the 11th floor – she is a crazy driver, always in a tearing hurry. One day she banged straight into this gate.
“She is getting into her car at the parking lot. Better keep the gate open. Penchod, pata chaley ek din mujhey bhi uda ke le jayegi!”

By Invitation: Musings about man’s best friend

Pratyush Chandra on your pet socialising with other dogs and you handling strays
The best time to socialise your dog is when it’s a pup. Try to do this with known and predictable dogs as much as possible. Older dogs will tolerate hyper-excited little puppies to some extent. A well-socialised big dog may get irritated and correct your puppy with a growl or even a snap which is usually enough to teach them manners which you never can by yourself.
The biggest mistake I’ve seen people do which dooms their dog is they have one bad experience with one dog and they shut out their puppy from every other dog for the rest of their lives. No. Dogs forget what happened but they will react to the fear that you may have internalised and then mirror it. Pups don’t get PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) from a bad event – you do. If you are able to shrug off a bad event, your dog will too. If your dog does seem afraid and fearful immediately afterwards, the worst thing you can do is start petting/consoling it. Pretend nothing happened and carry on as normal. They will immediately forget it too. By stopping to pet and soothe, you’re reinforcing a bad experience to your dog and marking the event as something significant.
Socialisation with streeties (stray dogs) can be easily done if you know how. First understand general dog body language to figure out your own dog and if you’ve never done this so far, start observing your own and every other dog (pet and stray) you encounter carefully, going forward. Some rules always hold good, others can be deceptive.
For instance, a wag doesn’t always mean a happy dog. If the tail is low and relaxed and wagging, that generally means a happy dog. A tail held straight or high could mean a dominant or confident dog.  A tail held straight out or high and wagging could mean an overexcited or dominant dog that wants submission from your own dog.
But remember these are markers and guides and not rules of thumb. GSDs typically walk or trot with tails held straight out. Huskies always have tails held high – this doesn’t mean aggression.
You’ll learn more the more you observe. But as a rule, mouth open and tongue lolling out always means a relaxed dog. The moment the mouth closes and staring starts, that’s a dog to watch more carefully.
Next, watch out for lip licking. That means an uncomfortable, uncertain, nervous dog that is fearful and could be aggressive not because it’s dominant but because it’s afraid. A dog that’s on the verge of aggression will also stiffen up and walk slowly and stiffly. Watch the hackles, the hair at the back just beyond the neck – raised hackles can mean an imminent attack.
As time goes by and if you’re observant, you’ll find that all dogs telegraph their intentions from miles away. The growl and the snap and the lunge come at the very end. Well before that, you’ll see an open mouth change to closed, stiffening and staring, careful walking/stalking, and raised hackles. Even if you can’t read the other dog, trust me, your dog can, and he/she will mirror the other dog with all or some of these actions. Watch your own dog carefully to get a trailer of what may happen next.
Better still, just avoid this progression of events completely. We stop on walks and talk to other pet parents expecting our dogs to shake hands as well. But dogs that are poorly socialised – fearful on one end and dominant on the other of the spectrum, can never be predicted. I know of enough poorly socialised Labs and Goldens that are totally nuts – the breed of the dog means nothing. If your dogs don’t know each other and you still want to socialise with a new dog on a walk, just say hi to the parent and tell your pet, “Let’s continue walking.” Don’t stop in your walk. Continue walking as you talk to the other parent 10-15 feet apart. Dogs are easily distracted. The sights, sounds, and smells while in motion will automatically stop them from focusing on each other. If the dogs seem okay, close the distance. If the first encounter is neutral or positive, they stop seeing the other dog as a threat.

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Now, strays.
All those advocating sticks and stones don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. My advice would be feed strays alone to get them friendly with you but don’t engage with them. If they identify you as a feeder, they’ll always be around you and that won’t help your cause while walking your own dog.
Strays are a thousand times easier to deal with than pet dogs. Streeties know the rules and are the best to socialise your puppy with.
On the other hand, pet dogs can be unpredictable. But I can give some general rules which are different for puppies versus if you have a grown dog. Watch out and avoid streeties that are feeding (because some feeder just gave them food) – they will guard it and be aggressive to all dogs around. Feed the streeties only when you are without your dog, but walk away after giving the treats. This way, they know you are a friend but not friendly enough to play with. Then finally take down your pup to meet them. It’s very very easy to familiarise pups to street dogs around your house.

The writer with his pet Shadow

Always be conscious of your body language as that is the key. If you are calm and confident, your dog will take his cue from you. If you’re pretending to be calm, your dog knows and that won’t help. If you do it step by step and slowly, aggression from streeties will never be a problem. But if you are in a new area or see new dogs and they start barking – if you’re not calm and confident, without knowing it, you will go stiff and tighten the leash or start pulling at your dog, contributing to the tension build-up. The idea is to train your mind. Be confident nothing is going to happen. When did it ever happen that you were walking down a road and a street dog came running and bit you? They’re barking at your dog, not at you because they’re guarding their territory as it’s their food source. That’s basic evolution and survival.
Identify the problem dog, there’s usually only one. The best thing is to pretend they’re invisible and walk on. This may happen on walk 1 and 2, but by walk 3 they will recognise you and will start ignoring you. If they’re very close and come in closer, don’t run away. Stand your ground and stare it down with completely neutral body language, but first make your dog sit. A sitting dog disarms the other dogs because they know it’s now not a threat to them. They can’t bark indefinitely. 15 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes? Ultimately, If they see you’re not afraid, they’ll lose interest and start walking off.
There are usually one or two asshole dogs जो आदत से लाचार होते हैं but I keep repeating to anybody who’ll listen. Dogs are emotion monsters – they can read your body language like psychics and many streeties get a kick out of scaring you if they see you’re already afraid.
So the rules are zero emotion, zero reaction, make your dog sit and wait out the barking, and the key is staying calm and confident. Fake it till you make it!
Now what happens if you start walking after that and they come back? Do it again. Stop and make your dog sit. It may be a long first walk or first couple of walks in a new area, but do not ever carry sticks or pick up stones. Don’t walk quickly or run away. In the dogs’ mind, mission accomplished. They scared your dog from their area.
Sticks and stones may work if the dogs are docile but if you run into some dominant dogs who refuse to back down, what will you do then? And by showing aggression, even if you make them run, you’ve now marked yourself and your dog as targets. They’ll now remember you the next time you walk and where they might have ignored you after 2-3 walks, that area will now become a daily battle for you.
I am repeating for the nth time, but the keys are being calm and confident. Be a leader to your dog and show him you’re in control of the situation. If I’m walking in an unknown area, a pack of 10 dogs can come snapping and snarling within 1 foot of my dog and he just looks at me and I in turn have my hands on my hips basically asking those dogs – ये क्या बेवक़ूफ़ी है और तू क्या कर रहा है?
This has happened 1000 times – my dog knows nothing happens after this and he’s taking his cues from the fact that he’s watching me, sees I’m unconcerned, and so he’s unconcerned. I can show you how my dog will change if I become agitated or aggressive. Just a slight change in me like anger or exasperation at a particularly persistent or aggressive dog and see how my dog changes. He’ll start whining, prancing, straining to go at them.
So it’s all up to you.
You can’t change the situation around you.
But you can change yourself.

Forwards Ki Duniya: A very special meeting in Haryana

हरियाणा के कुछ लोगों की मीटिंग हुई। मुद्दा था हरियाणा के विकास का ।

पहला हरयाणवी, “हरियाणा को भारत से आज़ाद करा लेते हैं।”

दूसरा हरियाणवी, ” सोचण आली बात या सै कि आजाद करान तै विकास किसतरां होगा?”

तीसरा हरियाणवी, “आज़ाद हुए पाछे हम अमरीका पर हमला कर देंगे।”

चौथा हरियाणवी, “रै भाई, अमरीका पै हमला करण तै के होगा?”

तीसरा, “जैैसे ही हम हमला करैंगे, अमरिका हमको हरा देगा, और हरयाणे पै कब्ज़ा कर लेगा। हम अमरिका के नागरिक बन जांगे, अमरीका अपना डेव्लपमेंट तै करेगा, हमारा डेव्लपमेंट भी सात्थै हो जाग्गा!”

पहला हरियाणवी, “वाह भाई, फेर तै ना वीसा ना पासपोर्ट, अपना सारा रुपैया डालर बन जागा।
हम अंग्रेजी बोलंगे।”

किनारे बेठा नत्थू चुप था, “रै नत्थू तु भी कुछ बोले नै।”

नत्थू : “भई मै न्यूं सोच्चू सूं के हमले में जै कहीं हम जीत गए, तो अमरिक्का का क्या होगा!”