"Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it." ~ Honore De Balzac
Think again Mr. De Balzac because a certain family in Chennai has found that statement to be not only false but also that jealousy does a lot of good, to a certain canine, at least...
The canine in question, a certain Duke Havaldar, has been getting grumpier and sulkier with age as he nears his 12th birthday and he has had his adoptive mom and dad worry a lot about him. Typical worrisome habits include- Not eating his meals, not walking around, just lying wherever he is and not making any effort to socialize much. But then something happened. A small, mousy, gray, striped, hyper baby squirrel named Gattu happened!
Gattu was found when he fell off his house located on the base of an exhaust fan of the Officers Mess at a Chennai Air Force base. He was a tiny little skinny baby and the person who found him decided to adopt him and take him home. However as he was a bachelor he wasn't sure of how well he would be able to care for the helpless little squirrel. Solution? He gave it to Dukie's mom as a Woman's day gift!
Dukie, of course, was unaware of this transaction and remained his sulky self for a little while as he saw his mamma hold something cupped in her hands and put in down in a shoe box lined with papa's soft old kurta placed in their bedroom. Well, whatever. And then suddenly, he realized there was something amiss. His mamma actually seemed to be bringing some milk for whatever was in the box. And Dukie knows that food is made/ processed only in the kitchen so this action of his mamma didn't quite seem ok to him. What was mamma doing with a bowl of milk outside of the kitchen and she wasn't even bringing it to him! Mr. Grumpy then stood up and made his way slowly to the box to investigate. Oh my my, look what he found! A skinny, silly squirrel baby. Hmmpf. What was it doing in his home? He was about to find out. He looked up questioningly at his mom and she smiled and seemed to say this puny thing was going to stay. At least he figured that out by the way she kept pulling him backwards so he couldn't hurt it. Well, he anyway wasn't going to hurt it, I mean Dukie is a civilized doggie. He doesn't eat live animals, please! He would never. But he could definitely stamp on it 'accidently' right? I mean, he has never hurt anything that hasn't bothered him. So if this squirrel doesnt bother him, its ok. But if does, he'll sure teach it a lesson of who is the master of this house. The squirrel better be a fast learner. Hmmm. Dukie made his way back to his spot and decided to take another nap.
Things were their normal self for a few days. The only change in routine being this new ritual of mamma bringing milk for the squirrel. They named the silly thing 'Gattu' after speaking to Dukie's elder sister, Meghu di. It was her husband's idea. Its lucky they don't stay in Chennai because Dukie would certainly have had something to say to the two of them. I mean, what were they thinking? Gattu sounds so much like Daddu, which Meghu and Nammu di call Dukie most of the time. Anyways, Dukie is resolutely ignoring Gattu as he is now making small trips outside of his kurta- lined box- home.
Dukie usually would sit in the corner looking at Gattu play around. Then one day mamma decided to break the ice between them. Only problem is Dukie's mamma is a human, which means she uses techniques only humans can think of! She held Gattu to Dukie's nose so he could sniff him and get used to his scent. Ok, this looked fine. Only then she did the most annoying thing ever! She placed Gattu on Dukie's back! Ewwww. The stupid thing was now sitting snuggly on Dukie's back. How he hated it! But it was so small Dukie didn't feel like hurting him or telling him off. After all they were being introduced for the first time and whatever else he may be, Dukie is a gentleman! So he let Gattu stay on his back for a while. Only, things got beyond control shortly after that. Gattu quietly slipped down and tried to snuggle against Dukie's chest! Ha, ok, mister, back off! Too much bonding happening! Duke quickly got up and scrambled to get away from Gattu and as he ran out of the room, he couldn't understand why ma was laughing so hard!
As Gattu started growing up and getting about the house, Dukie decided to keep a watch on him. He is tiny, alright, but he still can steal stuff, right? I mean, it is Dukie's house and he'll be damned before he lets a teensy weensy squirrel get away with family fortunes! And also, it is important to teach Gattu early on who the Alpha- male in the family is. Dukie lets papa think it is him but he cant let Gattu get away with that misconception too. So Dukie makes it a point to run to mamma when she calls Gattu to come have food and before Gattu can take so much as a sip of the milk, Dukie licks it all up and gives Gattu a long hard look so he knows who's the boss!
And whenever ma and pa are outside in the lawn and call Gattu to take a walk with them, Dukie beats them to it and makes them take him for a walk so they don't have time to play with Gattu. the plan is working! Dukie is now eating three times a day and goes for a morning and an evening walk. Dukie is on top of things, to hell with the squirrel! He is a super smart, dominating, strong, macho, intelligent, handsome, well balanced doggie. Woof woof!
Post Script- Dukie's parents's notes- Duke is such an idiot! The stupid guy is now eating well and exercising well again. Well, if we had known it would only take some competition for him to get back to normal we would've brought home other animals way before this! Well, if jealousy is all it takes to get the guy on track, he's got it alright! Mr. Honore De Balzac, think again :)
