Mysooru Flashbacks 3: Pinto!
Very early in our first year, Pinto would strike fear in all three of us. Pinto was our owner's Samoyed and still ranks as the most ferocious little dog I've ever encountered.
The count of the number of people it had bitten, we were told, was 12 when we first moved in. By the time we left 13 months later, the count had risen to 14; 13th victim was our owner's younger son, while our landlady was no 14! To this day, I am amazed at us having escaped its wrath, even if it were by a whisker sometimes.
We had strict orders to lock the gate in the nights. Normally, that was no big deal; but with Pinto around, it was an ordeal! The steps went like this:
Over time, we got used to Pinto, and I guess Pinto got bored of us :-)
Prom was especially miffed from time to time with Pinto 'cos it'd be a herculean task getting visitors inside the house when our owners were out. To vent his frustration, Prom would sometimes get a few small pebbles and drop them from the first floor close to where Pinto was. The dumb dog would just run round and round trying to find where the sound and stone came from. This was Prom's recreation.
One particular lady hawker who'd peddle greens was the most angry with Pinto 'cos he'd never stop barking when she was anywhere close to the house. One fine day, she got what we call "chur-churke soppu" (don't know what its called in English though - but its a type of green that causes extensive itching when it comes in contact with the skin) and teased it close to the gate, just so Pinto could smell it. Poor dog, for the next couple of hours, it was rubbing its nose in the sand to get rid of the itch.
The count of the number of people it had bitten, we were told, was 12 when we first moved in. By the time we left 13 months later, the count had risen to 14; 13th victim was our owner's younger son, while our landlady was no 14! To this day, I am amazed at us having escaped its wrath, even if it were by a whisker sometimes.
We had strict orders to lock the gate in the nights. Normally, that was no big deal; but with Pinto around, it was an ordeal! The steps went like this:
- One of us (the locker), with lock and key in hand would scour around to make sure Pinto wasn't in range
- The other two would wait at the door, in position to close it as soon as the locker got back in
- Rush out to the gate, lock making as little noise as possible, and run back
- If 'cos of the sound of the gate, Pinto ran into range, locker would run back, hopefully having locked the gate by then
- If the gate wasn't locked yet, repeat from step 1.
Over time, we got used to Pinto, and I guess Pinto got bored of us :-)
Prom was especially miffed from time to time with Pinto 'cos it'd be a herculean task getting visitors inside the house when our owners were out. To vent his frustration, Prom would sometimes get a few small pebbles and drop them from the first floor close to where Pinto was. The dumb dog would just run round and round trying to find where the sound and stone came from. This was Prom's recreation.
One particular lady hawker who'd peddle greens was the most angry with Pinto 'cos he'd never stop barking when she was anywhere close to the house. One fine day, she got what we call "chur-churke soppu" (don't know what its called in English though - but its a type of green that causes extensive itching when it comes in contact with the skin) and teased it close to the gate, just so Pinto could smell it. Poor dog, for the next couple of hours, it was rubbing its nose in the sand to get rid of the itch.
posted by Ananth Narayan at
7:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home