In keeping with a week spent in Kolwan (see back to
last Wednesday) am taking a break from the J's today and will tell
you about Foxy with the sockses, first mentioned in Saturday's post.
The
minute we arrived at Vibhooti ashram, everyone went into the food hall for late
lunch. Except YAM of course. She had bread in her bag, remember, and had
just bought yummy, sweet little bananas.
The flask still had hot tea from the morning and the air around the bus
was cool, clean and inviting a picnic. I
found a low wall to sit and take in the incredible view.
Then
realised I wasn't alone. More silent
than the stars, this little red collie mix had come and sat prettily beside
me. Polite as you please! So we had picnic together. Quiet company in idyllic setting.
Chinmaya
Vibhooti is a very open, paddock-like property with low-line, environmentally
sensitive buildings. There are wire
fences around the boundary, but nothing at all to prevent comings and goings of
anyone or anything. Called Foxy by some
of the ashram residents, she was clearly intelligent, soft-natured and an
excellent survivor. She was known to
have territory extending all the way to Kolwan village, some 2 kms away. Her most constant canine friend was this
gnarly-jawed male. Judging by the
pattern of old wounds, he was a brawler - probably in defence of his doxy,
Foxy!
No doubt
a bout her, she was a total flirt. I
would be inclined to say she had everyone eating out of her paw - but rather,
with her pretty paws, she had everyone feeding from theirs!! Naturally, I could not resist holding onto a
couple of extra chapattis after lunch and would find her waiting to check out
my pockets. She enjoyed company of
humans too, following many of the lads who decided to climb the mandir hill but
was equally happy just to sit beside this nutty old thing and listen to
vedantic discussion.
Many of
the students and even our Sanskrit tutor talked about bringing Foxy back to
Sandeepany. I had to wade in on that and make it clear that this was their
human hearts talking and that common sense and dog-wisdom meant this would be
both foolish and cruel.
Never
mind that Foxy clearly had her own little world sorted out, in Sandeepany she
would have to drop to the bottom of the pack and could well be ripped apart by
the B-pack. They would never brook this
incomer of such beauty and favour. Even
if she was able to carve a place for herself, then there would come the time
that this batch would have to leave… what then?
Surely Foxy would be able win over more hearts, but life in the city
would in no way be as kind to her as it
was in the country.
So it was
that our time came to leave Vibhooti and every resident - including Foxy! -
turned out to wave us off. It had been a
very special three weeks and without doubt this is one of the most blessed
places I have ever had the privilege to stay.
It will
live forever in my menosouped memory!!
Hari Om
ReplyDeleteLong live Foxy!!
interesting post...
ReplyDeletethanks
THanks for introducing us to Foxy. What a beautiful pup, and clearly well adapted to survival in her own particular environment.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week!
Gail.
Nice post - the four legged friends look good value.
ReplyDeleteGlad you continue to like my wordy blog!
Cheers - Stewart M - Australia
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteCheers to you all - and long live Foxy, indeed! The INDog, of Pariah heritage, has extended years due to native health, however can see rather few of them due to environmental and communal situations. I do hope that I will meet Foxy again...
Hari Om, Yam! A wonderful tale, and a very special pooch. I'm glad she found you ;) Indigo x
ReplyDeleteShe's beautiful, Yam, and undoubtedly a collie mix. I'm glad you didn't let anyone take her away from her lovely country home, her guardian angel, and probably her many lifelong friends.
ReplyDeleteK
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteIndigo and Kay - thank you both. Indeed there is a difference between love and sentiment, which I do hope I balance. xx