Now if I had my own way...

Nothing is probably a better start to a day than watching a litter of newborn pups gambolling about playfully and whining to each other. The lane through which I walk down, it turns out, is a kind of a mating hotspot. Only two weeks back there were these brown set of pups, who have grown up into healthy teenagers. The new set is mostly black in colour. Yesterday evening while the mother was not around, I sidled upto our friends. It is such a nice feeling -- the little things nuzzling against you and wagging their stubby tails furiously.

Oh how I wish I could have a pup of mine own. Two years back, I remember I was in Sarojini Market and I came across this little cute lab pup. I wanted to have him so badly that I almost fixed up a deal with the guy. And called up E and S who were both at work. Their reaction: What? Are you crazy? You and pup can have the flat to yourself!

That was the end of it.

But nothing can beat the fact that I was about to become the proud owner of a baby owl. What happened was, last winter, a former colleague told me that me that her tenant's daughter had rescued a baby owl with broken wings and put it in the Jain Hospital. Now I have always had a fascination for owls. My mum while out for a morning walk came across a baby white owl which had fallen down from a tree. What did she do instead of bringing it home to me? She asked a guard at a building nearby to put it back on the tree.

So this hurt owl was my best chance. On a cold winter evening I made my way to the Jain Hospital. I had to take off my shoes and walk barefoot to the section where birds are housed. A guy there informed me that it had been released after being treated. He took me around the birds' section. All kinds of them - kites, eagles, parrots, sparrows, doves, pigeons, budgeriars - nesting around. The kites were kind of scary. They barely moved in their cages. In a way I felt sad for them. It must have been bloody claustrophobic. To top the injury that I got nowhere near my baby owl, I faced the ignominy of the guy trying to get fresh.

This was a good news though for E. She freaked out when she heard at what might have been. What would you feed it? It would come back with dead rats from its nightly visits outside! I am sure I would have found a way out. But it's not destined to be it seems. Sigh.