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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Cicilykutty


This blog is not by me. It is by a very dear friend of mine, Daniel. The reason I am posting this is because I am deeply touched by this story and it gives me a lot of reason to keep going and keep doing what I am doing. This is the most I could ask out of anyone..

Cicilykutty

She already made her abode there by the time I got moved into that house. She was only a pup then, the only she in a litter of four. Mongrels, we look down on them. It was this attitude that kept their mother out of the gate, but her puppies were an exception. Though Lucy & Snoopy never hit it off, but if you think about what made Lucy to give Snoopy a hug at last, it’s because happiness is indeed a warm puppy. By the time I moved in, guess they were 3 weeks old already, with eyes wide open, cute and cuddly, who doesn’t fall for a puppy face? They were too small to sneak in under the gate, & they loved to run after us – Ashaan, Kochu, Knanaya Nobleman & Yours truly. When exhausted they would squeak for food, but we insolent boneheads never cared for them, nor their mother, but she, though all bones & no proper food, would somehow manage to suckle them at least once a day. Thus they grew, & before we knew it, they were all on their own. Their mother had enough abandoning them one fine day, am not blaming her, pitting your wit against nature is one thing, but that against humans, quite another. At first the litter stayed together, then one by one they all strayed away for their own territories, but she decided to stay with us. It was only then we felt giving her a name. Kochu, a self styled parishkaari, started calling her Doggie. I however found it pretty weird, it didn’t go well her image, so I started calling her Cicilykutty. For Ashaan & Knanaya Nobleman though, she was but a Patti. Three names for a dog, but she would always answer our calls, my guess is she never cared what she been called as long as she got a mouthful. We had boozing escapades every weekend then, she would make her presence out of nowhere, & would merrily munch down the leftovers. Weekdays however were a different story, we all had our food from outside, & we never cared to buy her anything. She would resort to scavenging to keep her alive.

Our place was pretty near to an unclaimed marsh. A walk for 10 minutes into that direction, a birders paradise. So many birds, both in variety and in number.
Pappy Field Pipits - you won't spot them until they fly away at a short distance from you,
Orioles – I never saw one sitting anywhere for more than 10 sec,
Bee Eaters – the marsh being a breeding ground for dragon flies, these colorful birds were always a plenty at morning & evening times,
Drongos – giving a competition to those Bee Eaters,
Rollers – they could be seen perched on the electric lines all the time,
Baya Weavers – there was an entire colony on a thorny tree right above a long abandoned well, I used to climb on top of a pumping station beside, from where you can watch these chirpy birds at an arm’s length,
Partridges – notoriously shy, if you are lucky you can spot a couple busy foraging out in the open, but only from a distance,
Quails – am not joking, quails, a bunch of them would scrounge immediate outside of thorny shrubs, any sign of danger, they would retreat back to that thorny safety,
Hoopoes – was a stray sighting, I spotted it only once,
Wagtails –  they never gets bored of waging their tails, I always think why can’t they start waging their heads or something for a change,
Tailor Birds – we had a family once next to our house,
Magpie Robins – the black & white bird,
Laughing doves – they would always come to drink at a pond nearby our place,
Then there were bushchats, coppersmith barbets, bulbuls – there’s one bird with black upper body and wings, with a white under belly, got a small Mohican, a black tail longer than its own body, it sings and flies more like a bulbul, I googled a lot to make a positive id of this bird, but of little success till now, Asian Paradise flycatchers – such a lovely bird, you gotta see this guys long tail, a delight to watch,

A bit more walk, you end up at the banks of a big, but shallow lake.
Open Billed Storks, Sandpipers, Moorhens, Painted Storks, Egrets, Herons, Ibises, Grebes – We once had a newly hatched chick in a small pond nearby, just one chick, though I doubt if it’s a grebe. It was on it’s own, just a single one, all white, long beaks, small. It was fun watching it dive into the water and surface again at some other place. I might had spend hours watching it, but it disappeared after a week or so, probably would had fell prey for predators,
Kingfishers, Pied Kingfishers, Waterhens.

Birds of prey too: Shikras, Black Winged Kites. Come night, you can spot owls, sometimes two or three all together.

I once told this rich abundance of bird life to Sajith, & next weekend he came with Payyappilli, for shooting birds with their bazookas. Payyappilli fell flat on seeing our booze bottle collection, he got bowled over when he found Chivas, Walker, Glenfiddich, Teachers, Antiquity, Black Dog, Ceasar, Smirnoff bottles, to name a few, in our collection which we proudly displayed in our living room showcase. He forgot why he came there seeing all this, we did went out for some birding, but it was a bit late for us to start, & another weekend they promised never happened, neither the boozing I promised with them.

So I was telling weekends were fun, I would head out for some birding in morning, if not at evenings. And without me asking, she would tag along. She would walk at a close quarter, & whenever I took cover behind any bush spotting any bird, she too would stay still behind me without making any noise. At times I would spend some considerable time standing still, she had absolutely no problem, she would lie down & wait for me to continue. I didn’t do anything to teach her, she just picked it up. On these explorations, we would cross multiple dog territories, & she being an intruder, they would come to bully her. She would run back to me for cover with her tail behind her hind legs, I scared meself would retort to grabbing a stone or a stick, throwing at them. As those rogue dogs would retreat, she would pick up courage then, going after them barking as if daring them to come back. In between, her animal instincts would take the better of her, she would follow a frog or a grasshopper or a crab, or try to scare the wild pigs there, or would sniff around when she gets some curious scent, or would stand at the water side & would stare at infinity as if that all belonged to her. All I gotta do was just call her, come girl, & she would happily oblige. I never used a leash, though we brought one for her, & she hated that showing her dislike barking whenever we put it on her. When we reach the very end at the waterfront, she would stretch her legs running from one end to other. When I had enough, I would back to the comfort of our home, would drink some cold water, & grab something to eat if there’s any. But it never occurred to feed her anything. Such a brute I was.

She used to tag us along to office too. We had to walk some distance to get to the main road, and some more distance to get to the bus stop, and we had a level cross too in between. She would come with us till the main gate, she never cared for all the traffic & would continue to follow us. That always chickened us out. If she won’t oblige going back, we would throw stones at her, she would get the point, & would run back. A day or two like that, she got the idea that following us to the road wasn’t something we encouraged. She would wait then for us to return. She never learned waging her tail, she just couldn’t do it, instead she would wiggle her whole back whenever she feels like loving someone. It was fun watching her doing it, at times we would pat on her back, she was such a sucker for that, she would roll down on the floor the next moment on her back with all legs up. Thanks to Knanaya Nobleman, she knew one trick, how to shook hands. You extend your hands to her & say a halo, she would extend her, squeaking, wiggling her backside. She would stick around you with her ears pulled down, head tilted at a small angle, anticipating a bite or something. But our care stopped there, I don’t remember we feeding her even then.

Months went by; suddenly we started getting a lot of visitors, eligible bachelors looking to ask our Monroe out for a date. Some were in their Sunday best, some boasting their fine physique, some even wore a necktie, everyone’s well behaved, sophisticated. She was rather small speaking of her built, but when one day she came back with a litter of her own, we realised finally she came of age. Year after year, at around that time, bachelors would come back to woo her. Salim Kumar in Kalyanaraman is right, Kannimasam vanno ennariyan pattikku calendar
nokkenda aavashyam illa 
(Anglicised: A dog needn’t check a calendar to knew the time, you know). Still we never fed her or her puppies.

She began drifting shortly after, she would disappear for some days, & would turn up suddenly. Would stick around for a short while, again would drift away. She returned once with a bout of severe distemper. She lost all her health, her good skin, became all bones, and could hardly walk. She would collapse and gasp for breath all in a minutes time. But having us around would had been some relief to her, she would make serious efforts to come near us, but would collapse down after two three steps. We just ignored that mongrel, we were just brutes personified for her. Then Aditi happened. A good friend of mine, she dropped out her mba, & was touring all India visiting animal shelters & other animal welfare organizations. Cash strapped, she stayed with us when she was in Chennai. The week she been with us, she took good care of her, I found it silly when she would feed her eggs, bread, biscuits and what not. Cicilykutty came back out of that distemper pretty strong. I bet that mongrel would have find it an enigma, there are a bunch of brutes who cared zilch for her for all her loyalty, & now there’s another one who would feed her & cuddle her who she never even met before.

Kochu secured his transfer to Banglore then, Ashaan got relocated to Banglore for project requirements, & Knanaya Nobleman had already left for US of A. That left me alone in a big house. I thought it would be fun at first, you can watch tv without anyone disturbing you to switch channels, cook on your own, quality time, but into a week, I found it horribly boring. I was sorting the kitchen shelf one day, I found a pack of biscuits and a bunch of eggs that Aditi left, telling me to feed Cicilykutty once she’s gone. She did that much for that mongrel, I couldn’t even care to feed her those. I felt silly for a moment, who need a miracle to change something about you, for me this was good enough. Took all those, went outside, called out her name, feed her all of that. Whenever we had leftovers, I used to put those on the floor for her, but that day I fed her by my hand for the first time. I expected she to be bit hyper, that she would snatch the biscuit from my hand, but she proved me wrong. She took it from my hand rather gently, in no hurry whatsoever, biting the extended end of it. Chewed it down good, shaking her whole back, pulled back her ears, would squeak for another one. Where in the world could she had learned that, I was amazed. After all that she would sleep on the immediate step outside my door. I loved that routine so much, I started buying her biscuits every day. The Andipetty Idly shack where I went for my dinner, they sold biscuits, so I would buy her a packet or two without fail. It was fun feeding her, I felt good that I got a company at my otherwise lonely stay.

Days went by. I was asked to go on deputation to an alien land. Took around a month to get the paper work done. The last week at my stay there, she disappeared again never to come back until I left. She never replied my calls into the night, which was rather unusual. I had a friendly neighbor, whose was her second home, one day he broke that disheartening news to me, that a lorry ran over a mongrel a couple of days back in front of my place. I felt as if I had lost someone very close to me. I had a couple of packets of biscuit still, I fed those to the other mongrels around and left to that alien land.

After my short stint there, I returned back. Ashaan married his childhood sweetheart in between, they both moved into our old house, which meant I gotta find a new place. When he got back to our home, one day he dropped a mail saying Cicilykutty paid him a visit sometime back, which came as a surprise to us all. Ashaan got a new dog, a purebred lab, Ceasar; he and Cicilykutty never hit it off well. She drifted away again.

This last Saturday I decided to make it to Ashaans place to collect some of my old stuffs. The place is pretty near to SPKoil railway station, you can either take the main road, or the impoverished walkway through the thorny bushes, along which you can spot a lot of birds. It was already evening, why miss a perfect time to spot some birds, I thought taking the hard way. Crossed the tracks, dodged some thorny twigs, hardly some 100m through the walkway, a gentle squeak behind. I turned back to see her once again, Cicilykutty, alive and kicking, looking good as ever, the old Monroe. Ears pulled back, wiggling her back, she came close enough to me to pat, the moment I did pat between her ears, she rolled down on the floor with her belly up, such a sucker for pats! We had so much to catch up, I tickled her rubbing on her belly, she couldn’t contained her squeaking. Just like old times, we went ahead spotting birds, talk about our luck, the partridge couple look just the same, still shy they walked hurriedly for some cover. As we proceed ahead, another gentleman came across, and started calling her Munnu. We stopped for a chit chat, I asked if he meant calling her, he nodded his head in affirmative, this guy from Bihar now feeds her, thus her rightful master. When parted our ways, she paused for a moment in between, I turned back after a few steps to find her staring at me, then she lowered her head, & started walking back her new master. All I could do was just wonder at what just happened all there, until I knocked Ashaans door.

Been such a long time. Ashaan introduced me to his son, as he would say, Ceasar, an eight month old golden Labrador. We talked about what all we missed, we went out for a walk in between, I told him about Cicilykutty, I brought a couple of biscuit packs from a shop nearby. On our way back, we headed back where Cicilykutty found me, but she were no where to see, I called out her name many a times but to no avail. Just as I thought all that turning into a melodrama, I saw a movement in the bushes. Next moment, she was there squeaking, wiggling her back, it was a joy to watch her then. She had a new company, a handsome mongrel, who made it to the scene after her but kept his distance from us. We feed her those biscuits by hand. I had some initial doubts if she might had forgot those gentle ways of taking the biscuits, but she proved me after all am just human to have doubts. Her companion had doubts to come close when I offered him a biscuit. I had to throw him one first, then he too came pretty close. Both were merrily munching a quick bite side by side, then a biscuit I was extending to Cicilykutty slipped off my hand, but the other mongrel never tried stealing that from her. He just had a look at that biscuit, then Cicilykutty, and turned back to me. I find it rather remarkable, I don’t know if he had found biscuit suited to his taste, but he sure knew it’s food, the instinct should have urged him to get that, but he didn’t. Am glad that Cicilykutty finally met her perfect guy, someone who puts her first before him, someone who waits for her to finish her meal, it was just good enough for me. We spend some more time with them, & then we retreated back to our boring lives. She never followed us, she stood there, where she got company who takes care of her, unlike a brute who brought her biscuits when he felt lonely one night.

As we walked past her, I turned back ahead at a distance. She sat there on her hind legs, fixing her gaze at us. That was some moment to cherish. I would never forget the day I got humbled by a mongrel, am gonna keep those moments very close to my heart till my grave. 

TAILPIECE: Can you believe it? What could be the odds? How in the world did she knew I was there? How did she knew am gonna accept her back? No, the question should be, why in world would she accept me back? I don’t have any answers, & I don’t need them.

Last week I sketched Snoopy on my white board, saying happiness is a warm puppy. But last weekend I got to knew what it really means. Coincidence? Providence? I don’t know. But I sure know one thing, happiness is not necessarily a warm puppy, happiness is a warm mutt.

Tags: koiltailtale
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Mon, Feb. 27th, 2012, 09:50 pmDescription: [info]meera_vijayan01
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/19823/45678//No, the question should be, why in world would she accept me back?

Simply because she is not human :)

Nice read. . .
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 02:07 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
You read all that? Woah! That in itself is a compliment.
Thanks.
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Mon, Feb. 27th, 2012, 09:53 pmDescription: [info]krishnakumar_m01
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/13710/36595That was one big good read.. I didn't know you were interested in bird watching.

And yes, happiness is really a warm puppy.. I have finally made my mind to adopt one.. We are still missing our old one.. We dont know what happened to him. Thought he would come back.
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 02:24 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
Happiness is not just a warm puppy, as I learned, at times its a warm mutt. Sorry to hear about your old one.

>>Adopting
Great!
Do consider a mongrel. Or the daddy of the dalmation breed, Rajapalayam, or a combai, or the great descendent of saluki, Chippiparai. Check this out for more.

Thanks man. Appreciate it.
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Mon, Feb. 27th, 2012, 11:32 pmDescription: [info]suraj_bhattathiri
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/18146/44996:)

made me remember Thimothy and Buster :)
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 02:29 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
You meant this? Didn't lit any bulb. :(

Heck, you read the whole thing, & that's cool. Thanks.
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, 2012, 12:40 amDescription: [info]vinitha_valsalan
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/16961/44054A very long, but interesting read on Cicilykutty. But why Cicily? The name stuck from some character in a book/play/movie, or someone you personally know? (Whattay way to take revenge, in case it's the latter!)

I am no animal person myself, but it was an endearing read. Sometimes animals are more grateful/faithful than humans. Nah, strike that. Read it as 'Always...'.
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 02:40 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
Can't agree more. We should learn loyalty from a dog, preferably a mutt.

>>I am no animal person
I used to be one too. But am a changed man now. I hope you will be too one day.

Negative darling, not any revenge on someone. Doggie was way too English, it didn't suited her. For reasons unknown, I just felt like calling her such, Cicilykutty. And that took off. :-)

Gracias.
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 02:24 amDescription: [info]gokul_sukesan
It was a very good read.. enjoyed it... :)
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 02:41 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
Look who I got here!
Thanks man.. :-)
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 05:18 pmDescription: [info]aravind_p
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/19408/10034:'). *sniff*. What a true story! Cicilykuttine angane oruthante kayyil elpichu, ini samadhanamayi kannadakkam (orangam nnu!). Super da!
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 09:58 pmDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
Athe. Oruthane aval thanne kandupidichu.
Danke.
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 08:42 pmDescription: [info]vijitha_valsalan
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/16953/45522A very good post.
Felt every bit like this one came from the heart.
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 10:03 pmDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
Yeah, was humbled by a mongrel.
Gracias.
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Tue, Feb. 28th, 2012, 10:39 pmDescription: [info]lekshmi_m
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/19863/26495Its a beautiful narrative - simple,earthy and has an honest voice to it .Your writing reminds me so much of Ruskin Bond ,one of my favorite authors ,with references to the local flora and fauna et al. The tale of Cicilykutty's loyalty and love warmed my heart and thank God you realized its value !
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Wed, Feb. 29th, 2012, 01:09 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
To know someone read all that is itself a compliment, boy, that was too sweet for a comment.

Yes, was moved by her loyalty. I'll never forget that moment, she accepting me back, been such a long time. Did that jerked out a tear? Oh! Its just that something fell in my eyes.. :$ It was an humbling experience, a tear did rolled up but I contained myself.

Guess you streched a bit too far. Ruskin Bond? Not even close.. :$

Glad that you like it. Gracias.
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Thu, Mar. 1st, 2012, 04:51 amDescription: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/img/talk/md10_thumbup.gif
Description: [info]rajeshb
Finally read the whole post! I'm glad that I came to read the touching story and wonderful character of Cicilykutty!!
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Fri, Mar. 2nd, 2012, 02:16 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
You read all that! And you cared to put a comment! Woah!
This is just great. Thanks a bunch RB.
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Thu, Mar. 1st, 2012, 04:55 amDescription: [info]ashna_john
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/17188/44522It was a sweet read..:)
Pavam Cicilykkutty, athine ningal pattiniykkittallo..

It reminded me of a video i have seen..
Two guys were taking care of a cub.. As the lil lion grown up into a huge one, they had no option than sending him to a zoo..
Lion was moved to a zoo..
After an year or so, both these guys decided to pay a visit to the zoo..
On seeing them, the lion ran to them within seconds, hugging them and rolling over them.. :)
It was such a sweet video that it left me tearful.., Loved all what you wrote about Cicilykkutti.. :)
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Fri, Mar. 2nd, 2012, 02:20 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
I remember that video. True, it was more like that.
Thanks Ashu.
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Fri, Mar. 2nd, 2012, 01:28 amDescription: [info]joel_ebenezer
Description: http://blogs.ad.infosys.com/userpic/17464/43300Long one, but really worth reading!
Emotions are well expressed with choicest of words.
Cicilykutty is really worth your tears!
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Fri, Mar. 2nd, 2012, 02:23 amDescription: [info]abhilash_daniel
Thanks jRED. Glad that you stopped by.
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