Dog poop

Its been a struggle for years; especially since the start of my stay here in Mumbai – avoiding stepping on dog poop while walking the streets of Mumbai. This city has hundreds of thousands of stray dogs that roam the streets. The local municipality can’t touch them for fear of offending sentiments of minority religious and animal rights groups. Frankly, they give me the creeps and I stay terrified I will be tender meat for one of them soon. A pack of three came after me last year when I was jogging towards Juhu Beach; it was only the intervention of an idling watchman with a danda that saved me that day for he banged the cane a couple of times and on the pavement and the hounds thought otherwise.
Anyway, I was walking towards a small park for my morning run very near to my apartments and it still dark. I passed a couple of sleeping dogs and I was so intent on cursing them that I walked right smack in the middle of a pile. I cursed out aloud and that got the two sleeping ones instantly awake and interested in me. I was hopping on one foot and hopping mad. As I cursed the culprits and their mothers and others in in their family, other dogs joined in to watch me dance. One must have thought I was doing a morning ritual for it began howling. With amazing speed that stunned me, others picked it up and all of a sudden I had about 20 hounds howling very close to me.
Needless to say, my blood pressure gusshed and I bolted with the pack close behind. I would have been mince meat if the park full of early morning walkers and joggers was not but 10 yards away…