[LottiFurmann]

Yes, I did. I was down.. way down at one time. So down, almost 'bye bye time and full of bye bye thoughts'. It rained for couple of days and there was only a small strip on the road free of water. Either one walked on that narrow strip or had to get in the water. I was walking on that road.. zero self confidence.. way down.. I was secreting all the chemicals body produced when one is depressed.. this dog was lying on that strip.. he looked up at me, showed so much dis interest and curled back on the same strip.. message was clear.. " you! walk around me!".. I just stood there few seconds.. realiosed if I don't win that dog, I will never win anything in life ( if there was any life left after that day, that was).. I deliberately turned back, walked away few steps then dragged all my energies from the reserve and walked back.. that dog realised.. too late.. kicked him across to the full width of the street and walked on... I had to win my psychological fight with a street dog before I could clawed my way back in life. Wow! what a justification and what a twist for an action taken in frustration. It is ultimately the dog, the poor dog, that felt the pain of the kick. That pain also gave it the exalted position of a Guru, whatever the word means(the dog does not know anything about being a Guru ). Dogs usually defend their territory fiercely after marking the borders of the territory by pissing there. Other dogs keep away from such "marked" territory. If any other dog violates the unwritten(or is it the un-barked?) rule and invades the territory then you have a serious street-fight in which the weaker of the two contestants is mauled. Human beings never respect any of nature's laws and so the dog, the poor dog, territory marked or not, eats crow. But this is the first time that the dog has been put on a pedestal with a lot of respect, of course after giving it a painful kick. Dear friend Raghy, you can be happy about one thing. You have for company another "great" soul (does not periyar in Tamil mean the Great?). Periyar has already claimed that he fought with dogs in Varanasi for a morsel of food and that was a defining moment for him.

Just kidding. Please read this with a peg of JD(on my account) in hand.

Cheers.