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Ramblings
In the Matter of Territory
by VK Joshi
All the living beings are territorial. The human history is full of
records of war of territories. Expansionism has been the hall mark of
all the kingdoms. Lowly creatures like ants have a strong sense of
territory. As the organisms evolved from single to multi-celled the
territorial instinct became all the more powerful.
 Having
spent my life with dogs, I have been able to understand the meaning of
the word territory more clearly. Dogs are strongly territorial. The
moment a puppy reaches its new home, it starts sniffing around, trying
to identify and record the smells within his territory. Then as a
precautionary measure he starts to mark his territory with his urine. As
the pup grows to an adult and goes on long walks with the master he
painstakingly marks all the electric poles or any other projection on
the ground. In the process he also sniffs and finds out how many 'hits'
have been there on the pole and what was the physical condition of his
predecessors.
It was just a chance that once I acquired a Long Coat Chihuahua , a real
tiny and perky breed of dogs. Since she was born on the first day of 'Chaitra'
month of the Hindu calendar, I named her Chaity. While I had to train
other dogs to sit on a scooter or in a car, Chaity indicated her
preference for a ride from the day one. She used to majestically sit
near the rear windscreen of my Ambassador car, a place where normally
people put a toy dog for display. She felt proud when a crowd thronged
the car to have a look at her and wagged her tail at her admirers. Yet
another place she loved to snooze was the small carpet used by my mother
for performing her pooja.
Chaity grew into a 'graceful beauty' alas there was no mate for her.
Sometimes I felt that she was being too much humanized and to provide
her a company I brought a Miniature Pincher puppy bitch and named her
Chotu.
The moment I entered the car with Chotu in my lap, I heard a growl from
the rear. And lo it was Chaity roaring like a tigress. With some
difficulty I managed to drive back home. Chaity's growls soon became
barks and she started baring her teeth viciously at Chotu. As a
precaution I placed Chotu in a kennel. Chaity marked the kennel from all
sides and drew a sort of 'Laxaman Rekha' daring Chotu to come
out.
Guerilla like attacks on Chotu became a daily routine, till she became
powerful enough to retaliate. And by the time Chotu was one year old,
she started taking perverse pleasure in marking Chaity's territory with
her urine.
All attempts for peace between them failed. There was constant terrorism
and there were constant attacks and retaliations. They had to be kept
separated in different parts of the house. Chaity developed oral cancer
at the age of 12. Doctors were helpless against the God's will and one
fine morning I found her in her eternal sleep.
Thinking that the territorial war was over, we let lose Chotu in the
house. She darted straight for my mother's Pooja room and marked the
carpet with vengeance. Fortunately the Ambassador car had also left for
her happy hunting grounds by then, but Chotu left no spot ever used by
Chaity unmarked.
Now it has been four years since Chaity left this world, but for Chotu
her smell still pervades and she still keeps marking the house.
Reading everyday about terrorism and attacks by one country over the
other I feel we humans have perhaps not evolved more than Chaity and
Chotu in the matter of territory!
September 3,
2006
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Ramblings
The Week of September 3, 2006
Second tryst with destiny? The first brought
little! by Rajinder Puri
Terrorism against India by Dr. Subhash
Kapila
Surveillance Tapes from God's Security Agency (A
Spoof) by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Parallel College for Parapolitics by J.
Ajithkumar
Racial Profiling - Episodic Misgivings by Col.
Rahul K. Bhonsle
Are you a Hindustani? by VK Joshi
The Creation of One World: Is it just an
Utopia? by TA Ramesh
Happy Birthday Boloji by Meera Chowdhry
The Passing Away of Giants by Dr. Amitabh Mitra
New Age Birthing
by Elayne Clift
Putting Women in Charge by Nitin Jugran
Bahuguna
When all joy Leaks Out by Fehmida Zakeer
Saved by 'Kat-Ki-Kunni' by VK Joshi
Marutta: A Lesson in Character for our Times
by Satya Chaitanya
In Search of a Guru by Arya Bhushan
It's a Dog Life by Michael Levy
In the Matter of Territory by VK Joshi
Mobing You, Mobing Me, Aha! by Robert L. Sungte
India @ 60 - A Reflection by Rajesh
Ramasubramanian
Khajanchibabu by Tarasankar Bandopadhyay –
Translated by Kumud Biwas
Dancing To Her Own Tune by Ponni Arasu
Looking Back, Looking Forward by Deepti Priya
Mehrotra
Red Alert and Waiting by Monisha Sen
Wireless Technologies: Voice and
Messaging by Ruchi Gupta
The Silent Majority by Robert L. Sungte
Bibliotherapy by Vikram Karve
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