Thursday 1 October 2015

The long and short of it


                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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