Running and street dogs- I

Inside Goodluck Cafe

It’s a common sight in most Indian towns.   Free range urban dogs can be seen at garbage bins or moving singly or in packs along most streets.  They are considered a menace and Pune has in the last month recorded an unusually high number of dog bites.

I usually run around 6:30 am through 8:30 am.  It’s too hot after that and the traffic accompanied by pollution from vehicle exhausts also becomes unbearable.  During one 15 km run I had counted about 40- 50 dogs along my route.

Here are some suggestions about running past dogs that seem like they are waiting to chase you down.

First, some behavioral observations and what they mean to you.  I must mention that I like dogs in general.  While I am not defender of the ‘street dogs” (It’s not a great life in any case for them) I am against culling them by poison or other painful means. If you are fearful of dogs you should stay alert and keep a few pebbles handy so you can throw them in the dog’s general direction when you see them.

 Dogs are territorial. It’s important to be aware of what that space maybe.  If the dog seems to belong to the house by the street, or is attached to a group of huts or shanties by the road side, about a meter or two into the road and along the length of their house is what they typically consider their space.  So give in to them and go around.   Dogs around garbage bins are usually scavenging. They don’t really care about you unless you look like competition.   Running close to a feeding dog may generate aggression.  Dogs are also unpredictable and moody. The same dog that barked at you when you went past first may completely ignore you on your way back. Or vice versa. 

What can you do about them?  See Part II.

Tasty but not too spicy?

Nunoz, Bavdhan. Pune

Pune is home to a large number of African and Iranian students who attend Pune University. Pune University is close to where I live, about 4 kms.  Students live nearby.  India always had people from Iran and Africa living and visiting for business and higher studies for many years.  In fact, for the last several hundred years if not a few millennia.  In the recent past, post Indian Independence in 1947, Pune has attracted students for higher education in the arts and sciences.   A number of Iranian restaurants called “Irani Hotel/Cafe”s have been serving bun musca( bun and margarine/butter), bun- omelet, baked beans, black tea with lemon, scrambled goat brains ( yes.),  milk tea and a large variety of snacks and foods for very affordable prices.  ( About eight to ten of us with big appetites  go for breakfast and get fed for about  INR 1000 or 20 USD).  Goodluck  Café is favorite.

But now there is a new breed of Iranian restaurants.  These cater to students from Iran.  Mostly meat dishes not easily available in Indian restarunts.   Beef, Mutton based.   Also not as spicy as Indian food. Chelo Ghosht( Rice and beef), Kubideh( skewers of lamb), and many traditional Iranian preparations are served.  Nunoz is down the street from my house.  Good eating!

Rahul.  Seafood. Aundh, Pune.

John Simon Ritchie aka Sid Vicious

Sid Vicious.  Bassist. The Sex Pistols.

Punk.  Never really heard much but always liked the image.  In London around Picadilly Circus I had seen groups of youths with purple mohawks and leather around 2006. I was taking pictures and they ducked and the girls swore at me.  Really mean looking guys, all clutching brown paper bags with liquor bottles inside.  One sweeter and less abusive one told me she would get them to pose for a quid.  I played along and gave her a coin.  And they did! Goddamn it Punk sold out!  And, what a show. Tongue studs, group poses, tattoos, I started laughing at them and they turned out to be just kids making a quick buck .  Not tough at all. Kind of sweet as they sat huddled together sharing cigarettes and chewing gum waiting for tourists to take their picture.  The first girl told me she may go on to “Uni”.  Well, hope she did.  I’m sure they are not all that sweet, but there was really not much aggression compared to the image.   Kids hanging out in Five points, Atlanta seemed more dangerous (and probably are!).  The pickup was in an empty lot near home in Pashan, Pune. 

Baner Pashan Link Road.

Sukhois and religious chants

Riverside Fairgrounds, Deccan, Pune.

Pune Civilian Airport.

In India, I can think of no town or city where the early mornings are quiet.  Blaring religious chants from small and large temples in every neighborhood on crackly amplified sound systems provide a constant backdrop.   One might think that this is an urban phenomenon. It’s not!  It’s equally bad in the countryside.  It’s really depressing when you wake up in the morning on a trek in the mountains and hear these sounds floating up from a village way down below. The religious (Hindu mostly) chants and hymns start around 5 am. They usually stop by about 7:30 to 8:00 am.  I think we fear hearing our own thoughts first thing in the morning and have to snuff them out with the name of the Lord(s).

The sound I really like in the morning is that of Sukhoi fighter planes, in pairs or singly on practice sorties above Pune.  It starts like a distant rumble of thunder and waxes and wanes in the wind. As they get closer the jet engine sound becomes apparent.    You can rarely see them.  Black triangular specks in the sky. They Doppler out going overhead and then go back to being a rumble.    The Indian Airforce has based a couple of squadrons of these Russian war planes, Sukhoi Su-30MKI in Pune.  They have a very nice profile.  They resemble General Electric F-14 Tomcats but are not that large.  Similar swing wing, dual engine/tailplane fighters.

Of Mus Musculus and Men

Seller of Java Plums ( Jamun)

We have a small garden along the back and side of my house.  Behind our house is a large piece of land that belongs to the Indian Military.  One small barrack and a laundry facility sit in one corner.  The rest is covered with scrub and a few acacia trees and provides a home for many birds and small animals. These creatures regularly make their way into my garden.  Mongoose(s)( geese?), bandicoots, snakes, lizards of  many different types are frequent visitors. One shiny lizard beauty locally called “A snakes aunty”, these regularly occupy my shoes in the winter.   Various birds also come to our garden.  One red eyed crow pheasant, Greater Coucal or Bharadwaj ( local) cocks his head and stares at us through the upstairs bedroom window from his perch on our coconut tree.   But these are the welcome visitors.  The last four years I have spent in this house, we have had mice come indoors for nesting. Some small, cute and brown, some large field monsters.  Mice babies are also really ugly, naked translucent with no fur, closed eyes and tiny claws.  The past winter I successfully barricaded all openings and diligently closed all doors and windows at night and we have not had any mice!  A  personal  victory for me over those... rodents!   Damages include: Innumerable packs of tea leaves, soaps, motherboard/controller washing machine,  books, book case, clothes, wiring, wooden furniture etc.

Not walking away from THIS one.

Forum Mall Foodcourt, Bangalore.

Temple, Deccan Gymkhana

Sometimes I see a scene that looks like it could make a great drawing but my heart sinks at the work involved or its a challenge with intricacies of lots of stuff, moving people, perspective etc.  I used to walk away before, but these two times I HAD to sit down and get my book out and make the drawings just to prove to myself that I could render that scene.  Lots of mistakes but they look interesting. And they didn't take that long.

"If you say no to champagne, you say no to life!"- Deerhunter

Burger van, IISER.

On my way back from my haircut at the National Chemical Laboratory shopping center.

IISER ( Indian Institute of Science Education and Research) is a new Institute set up by the Govt. of India to create generations of scientists. It provides an interdisciplinary curriculum comprising of Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology in equal measure in the first two years and a research based specialization in the last two.