Last two days I have been
observing that Biscuit has resumed coming out with me as soon as I wake up.
Combined with the other indicators of weather viz., width of the sweat drenched
band on my shorts at different stops of my run, the length of the tongue hung
out by the early morning dog which drags his owner by a leash and the sweat
film on the hand cart puller’s bare upper body who lugs firewood and crosses
the Hubli passenger near City center every day. Suffice to say that the newspaper
reports that Chennai is in for pleasant weather in the next few days was stale
news for Biscuit and me!
There could be another reason
for Biscuit’s good mood, a kind Doctor (Dr. Mohammed Ali, I mention his name
because his faith is supposed to proscribe dogs!) has cleared food allergy as
not being a reason for his skin allergy and he back to gorging on curds. My
wife is happy that the support for the Vegan party at home (yours truly) has
fallen by half.
Biscuit has developed a working
arrangement with the huge influx of (not sure migrant or refugee) stray canine population
which has descended on our colony. Barring a dignified growl at some stray who
decides to bare his fang on His Royal Highness, he has been treating them as
persona-non-grata. He has been quite a socialist in making overtures to the
fairer sex of his kind (purely platonic as he is a confirmed bachelor!). Buoyed
by a good appetite and fish oil burnished shiny coat, he has been irresistible
to the fairer sex!
Barring weekly offs on fridays,
the Hubli passenger has been chugging along nicely delivering 32K on working
days and a full marathon on weekends and holidays. Last few weeks have been
good for running as a weekly off for Eid and Vinayaka chaturthi have given me three
full marathons every week. Sadly Gandhi Jayanti falls on Friday when I have
some early morning work, still 32K could be squeezed in I hope!
There has been a surge in the
number of runners recently, the scene reminds me of the crowded library in
college before exams, you guessed it right, Chennai runners are sweating it out
in preparation for the Chennai Marathon which is close at hand. I am not
complaining as the number of cyclists and runners and the ubiquitous army men
on the run has made my runs quite cheery. I have been playing a barefoot
Doctor, nutritionist and sometimes sports trainer to runners and people who routinely
intercept me for gyaan.
Apart from the usual human
interactions, new addition to my friends list has been Justin, a Labrador, who
met me near the TTK flyover. He was as cheerful and bubbly as a four year old
Lab is wont to be, but, what broke my heart was that one of his hind legs was
wasted. His owner mentioned that the defect was congenital. What was enthusing
was his instant friendship and cheer. He surely could not have understood the
reason for my gloom, a wonderful early morning lesson in being positive!
Chennai is getting used to the
punctuality or lack of it of Hubli passenger and I am frequently stopped by
complete strangers asking me to explain my absence or delay on a given day. I
guess this is their way of showing that they care. Last week when a van load of
school children crossed me and I was given a resounding cheer, I all but felt
fully weaned from Hubli hangover.
Nice to see Gandhi statue fully
cleaned up for his birthday tomorrow, hope he has time for me when I wish him
during my morning run tomorrow!
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