Menoculayshunal; Explorations

Outing

Radha did her best to keep them under wraps, but the human uncle seemed determined to bring them out in the open.

She wasn't happy about it, but at the same time, he had been bringing the food and milk which helped her out enormously.  Now he wanted to pick up the pups.  She knew he was gentle and would never hurt them, but still, she kept a sharp eye on proceedings.

It didn't stop with just uncle though.  Next there were others of the students interested in her kids.  Not all of the hands were gentle - many had never touched a dog before.  After all, in India, there are people who consider the dog to be lowest of the low and never to be touched or spoken to.  Now these young people were learning how wrong that attitude was.

The pups were growing really well - particularly two of the boys and they were getting quite rambunctious.  Radha found herself leaving the den more and more just to get some peace.  When she got back, they would have ripped the bedding to shreds and clearly had been running the length of the available known territory.

Then came the fateful day when Uncle removed one of the concrete grilles at the end of the drain and the pups, having grown well, managed to jump out all by themselves.  At this point, Radha knew she would have to start letting them find their own place in the world.  She would have to start concentrating on keeping the three males strong and healthy - the female would just have to take her chances.  That was the law written deep in her genes.  She loved every one of them, but also knew there was need for priority in order to ensure continuation of her line.

Two of the males were like herself, black and white and somewhat collie looking.  However, they were without tail.  Dog without tail would have troubles in the INDog community.

Male number three was all white except for one brown patch on the left ear.  His eyes seemed to have some trouble however.  Not blind, but neither did he appear to be able to see much beyond the length of the drain.  The female was mostly white with an extensive brown head and ear patch on the right and a smaller one on the left.  She was half the size of her brothers and had to fight hard to get to the teet.

She was the most adventurous though and right from the first outing, the girl began to wander.

"That's a pup after my own heart," thought Radha, fondly.

There was quite a gathering of students on this official outing day.  Uncle had called all interested parties and had even persuaded the reluctant strange-amma to come and visit.  She was not at all sure they should be interacting with the pups, given that technically they were wild animals.  Radha could sense that amma was on her side and wanted the natural balance to be left in order.

It was a losing battle though.  The 'awww' factor had kicked in and both amma and Radha could see that this was going to be an ongoing saga.

It was not long before the strange-amma had to become a lot more involved than she ever wanted to be.

©Yamini Ali MacLean