Ralph, I Miss You...

      Ralph, I Miss You....

RALPH- THE ROUGH

It’s been more than a week since I blogged. A best friend of me called me back the next day and explained to me how lacklustre and tedious my blog is. Then he gave me some pointers on how can I better the whole outlook of my blog. According to him, mine is a narrative style of writing which is more journalistic than blogging and thus evokes no interest in readers, piques no curiosity, and is not doing well with the very purpose of blogging. Great advice from a great friend.

Then I thought...., Oh my goodness, what exactly does he mean by “sincere expressions on ordinary topics to evoke interest”. Let me clarify... so I asked him. But then , he asked me in return,

“Has a dog ever bitten you?”  I said “No, I’am absurdly good at climbing trees”.

My friend was growing impatient.

 “Ok. Let it be...now tell me, have you ever met with an accident which wiped out your existence from this planet, though momentarily?” 

“Yes twice.”     

“ Ok very good, then go write about it...will be an interesting read for me...Good night” he disconnected the phone.

Such a good friend...I thought.   Now there is enough reason to be sceptical of the quality of my blog writing, that I thought I should better leave it altogether or just plough ahead with some scraps to keep it alive at least for some more time. Since blogging is something that gives me pleasure and makes me elated, I thought,  I should stick to the pretty good second option, though I’am not a blogaholic nor would I intended to be one.  The satisfaction I get when I’am in a world of my own for a few moments, which doesn’t create any problems for others, is just incredible.

Now that I’am seriously thinking about writing a post, I wonder the stuff may be boring to many of you, but here I know how badly I missed my “RALPH”, a couple of years ago. Yes, I had a dog, a majestic looking ‘German Shepherd’ that I owned from a reputed dog breeder in Kerala once I’d developed a fantastic respect for this breed after realizing that this particular breed has a very special and unique bond between its master since time immemorial. Dogs carry a very high emotional capacity and thus they are the first ones to be attracted towards the human beings. They go by ‘feel’ rather than ‘instinct’. As humans have the most emotional senses than any other living beings, animals are attracted more towards them.

Anyway, my Ralph was barely one month old when he came to my house late one evening amidst all the cheers and jeers of my family members. Though far away from my house, I could well imagine my children’s faces beaming with joy and fascination. I could hear them laughing and jeering at the little pup who would be their new companion to pal around in the coming days.  A month later, I took a short leave to join my family and to see how the new comer in my house enjoying his stay. It was a fascinating experience to be with this little cute dog. Very soon he started wagging his stubby tail, jumping all over me and playing with me. It was nice to be able to have a wonderful vacation with him.

One month old Ralph, with my Son

One more member added to the list of those who have sincerely been worrying about me, on the last day of my leave phase. It has always been disquieting for me to say adieu to my family and friends after spending few days in euphoria with them. As an armed force member you don’t have many options. 

Months passed.

I was astonished to find, when I came back after few months, how quickly this pup developed into an adult dog. This time, I’am bit scared going near him as he was violently swirling inside the cage and barking at me ferociously.  I never imagined he would be growing up so fast.  Going by what experts say, dogs seldom forgets their first master, but here, this man, the way he behaves, I thought, he wants to rip me apart. Few gesticulations to calm him down went in vain. Then the decision from an armed force officer, "Come what may", I told my wife. “Open that door”. Not sure about animal instincts, I took an evasive action, just in case. Few stitches here and there and an extended medical leave due to a brutal dog attack was what I expected to come about.

Ralph, 8 months

The door was opened and then Voila...! He raced to me, jumped up in the air, stuck his legs up on my stomach and started licking my hands. Gazed up at me, he was wagging his tail as if he was so pleased with my coming. He barked and growled, trying to tell me something in his own language. When I nudged him as his small but razor sharp teeth were hurting me a little, he bounced back as if like wants to climb up me. Ralph is now an adult dog, I thought.  

It was during those days, did I realise that my Ralph is but a ferocious and agressive dog. After observing him for a while, the vet to whom we took him for a vaccination injection, told me that this dog is a little ferocious beast and need some training and few extra precautions while taking him out for walks as he would dare attack anyone to whom he thinks not his kind of. Iam aware of his uncharacteristic rage towards the visitors to our house while on sheltered in his cage, but this one was a bit of shocker to me. He had the power of few dogs combined and was too aggressive.  In my absence, I’am sure my wife wouldn’t be able to train him properly or groom him as a good canine. I tried my best to train him a bit by taking him with me every morning when I went out for my daily jog and found he truly enjoys that. We would practice, sit-stay and catch the ball exercises in the morning or in the evening in the small aisle of my house. Days passed in a hurry and the vacation was over in a flash.

After a 5 Km jog

I was a bit worried when I started getting those telephone calls at my work place, about the mischievous character of my Ralph and his over enthusiastic activities which caused him to be altogether banished from the heart of my family members and neighbours. My mother who would not talk anything disturbing to me particularly when I'am on my work place was also found worried about him. The latest incident of a daily wage labourer who was working in a nearby house got almost passed out when she encountered Ralph when he slipped out the front gate and sprang towards her, evokes protest from the perturbed house owner. Even though it was an action out of playfulness, this incident earned him a reputation as an aggressive and ferocious dog potentially dangerous to the neighbours.  The only ones who still liked him were the residents of the nearby apartment for his thunderous barks at night for every unusual sounds or awkward movements around. In a place where citizens are weary of housebreaking incidents even in broad daylight, his presence was a much sought after endorsement.  

Heated discussions and negotiations by my family members, ended up in moving a memorandum to me to take an early decision in getting rid of this dangerous beast to avoid any untoward incidents in future.  All my last minutes efforts to convince them to wait for few more years till I get voluntary retirement from service went in vain. It was literally with a heavy heart, that I accepted the unanimous decision of my family members and asked them to approach our vet for an advice. Few days later the doctor introduced to my wife, the owner of a famous kennel in Trivandrum who was in search of a good stud dog.

Mean while I steadfastly refused a good amount he offered in lieu of my Ralph as I couldn’t even imagine selling him.

One fine morning, when the new owner came in, Ralph reacted to him none differently than any other stranger in the house. Far away, I was listening to the live commentary of events as my wife was doing the role of a commentator. She said, “I can’t see him being torn apart by Ralph. He is simply venting his rage towards him and barking mad…. I think he will break open the iron grill….. And the new owner is not reacting at all as if he has seen enough…. He is making some gesticulations at him with his fist. Oh…Yes…he calm down a bit…his ferocious bark has now been reduced to little more than a whimper… Now they are gazing at each other…, he is going near him and calling his name….he touched his nose…, I have to check…yes he is wagging his tail now…hold on….hold on…he is asking for his chain…. I will call you later.”

She left me anxious to know what happens next.  Few moments later she called me to give a vivid depiction of how my Ralph left our house calmly with his new owner. Once the door was opened, he sprang out and started licking his new owner’s hands. He repeatedly and gently taps the side of Ralph’s neck. The reaction was almost magical. Within moments, they became friends.  He simply chained him and took him away in a vehicle.

My Ralph came without me in my house and quietly left without me with no protest or hassle. If I would have been there, I want to tell him what a good and gorgeous boy he was. I won’t see him again as I’am sure it will upset him. I cherish every moment I did have with him and nowadays I miss him in my early morning joggings.

He was only a dog, I know, but it’s hard for me to forget him. What Ralph may have thought when he was taken away?  Difficult to say, I know. But he had a large heart to forgive us. He would have thought ‘why should I disturb you when you people don’t want me.’

I had to make a decision, ultimately though, to bid farewell to my Ralph. Even though I feel guilty about my decision sometimes, then I feel that I did something what’s best for everyone.  Like someone said, “those we can’t live without, but have to let go”

He was simply too big for my wife to handle and with a job in armed force where you could only stay with your family for less than three months a year, I was helpless. He was such a lovely dog, I’am sure he will be having a nice life with his new owner. He will learn quickly that his new owner, who can give him a lovely life, will love him too. 

Now I haven’t got a dog and won’t take the risk of getting another pet dog till the completion of my twenty years of mandatory service which is going to be over soon. Then I’ll go for a dog, the most ferocious one, the most powerful one, if not German shepherd, then a Rottweiler… or a GermanShepherdRottweiler…???.  Let me see…… 

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