LEO

All this was written or said much before but was destined to be put together now.

In memory of my dear LEO (8^th October 2002 – 19^th December 2012):

As I sat in my room fretting about how to deal with the centipede menace and the rat which had gained entry into my room, I missed my Leo- wish he could be here with me. With the size of my room (considerably small) no rats could survive in my room because there would be no place where it could hide from Leo. Food will not be kept on racks like it is now coz I’ll be more scared of him than the rat. Just imagine sugar like now, just in a packet, on the rack? He will eat it all in one go. Playing with ‘pazhuthara’ (centipede) will become our fun pastime. Missing my “thakudu”(English version not available).

I wouldn't need any alarm or anyone to wake me up in the morning – there is no getting away with a hungry dog. Especially with Leo, waking up would not have been a problem. And winter timing will automatically set in for both of us. Also could sleep fearlessly with the door left open. And the most tiring work will not be washing clothes or cleaning the room, it will be bathing him once a week.

 

In winters my feet which are always frozen even under a razai would be warm if he sleeps over it. The warmth of those days are still fresh in my mind. But when he didn't and I try to slide my leg under him, he gets annoyed and attempts to bite me for which I would kick him out of the bed and as a result both of us loose our precious sleep. Now when I think of it, it was actually my mistake coz I’m the one who disturbed his sleep first. Never in those times we cared whose mistake it was we always had to blame each other and forget everything and act as if nothing happened the very next moment.

And my normal 15 minutes morning walk nowadays would not have been possible with him. It will take minimum 30 minutes for us to cover a km. My sir will always find something for which we will have to stop at least 10 times. If he finds nothing else there would be the other dogs on the road and their rivalries. And even I will have to stop to get better control over him and watch over him.

There are big dogs in this area where I live and both of us will be scared of them but not when we are together. We can beat the shit out of even a dog as huge as “Alphy”( My cousin’s Afghan Hound) if together. And if there are many we can run faster than all of them and we’ve done it many times before also –haha! Though it was scary then, we’re laughing as we reach a safer zone.

Yes my Leo is the sweetest. He is my best friend ever. He is the sweetest memory I’ve – we’ve lived it together. I’m terribly missing that son of a champ who fortunately happened to be mine. And right now, I feel like earning a small bite from him.