"My Family and Other Animals"

First things first... The title isn't mine - it's a book by Gerard Durrell. Thanks to NM for lending it to me. I enjoyed it,and the title has just stuck to my mind...

With my family, I'm their pet. Needless to say, they pamper me a lot :) With this, I'll just move on to the rest of the Animal Kingdom, a domain so large that I can't even think of mentioning all its members...

(And who knows? Someday I might indeed write more about my family :P)

So, let me stick to a small subset of the Animal Kingdom.

Dogs as a rule have a tendency of making me imagine the worst that can happen. Maybe it's something to do with a nightmare I had featuring a dog - I still remember waking up in sweat (wow! I've just used a bookish expression!), and though I try to convince myself that it was only a nightmare, I would still prefer a live-and-let-live-but-you-live-far-away-and-don't-enter-my-territory policy when it comes to dogs. Like I said earlier, something about them affects me...

Cats, I don't have a problem with - only I sometimes wish the cat in our house didn't sit there dumbly on our doormat, even when we are opening the door... Since the cats, at least the ones I'm acquainted with seem to be satisfied in having just a nodding acquaintance with me, I'm happy and the arrangement suits me just fine. A symbiotic relationship, I think it's called. (If I'd known I'd be using some term like this in the future, I'd have actually paid attention to what the teacher was teaching in the class, instead of trying to will my friend's watch to point to lunch hour, and watching who was walking outside our classroom door.)*

On Rats, Gnats and Bats, that subject which made Veronica Wedge discover her twin soul in Tipton Plimsoll and that subject which (at least in part) made the scales fall from Gertrude's eyes, well, I must admit that I share the views of Veronica and Tipton , that is, I don't really like them! ** (Though bats seem more okay-er (is that a word?) than rats to me!)

I had a fairly tolerant attitude towards lizards, until last night when one made me scream and almost fall by getting under my feet while chasing a cockroach. The irony was that I was trying to escape the cockroach which was trying to escape the lizard, a merry-go-round situation ending with my mother startled by my sudden shout :) (I did come across a small lizard today, but we didn't fraternize :) )

I don't know how comfortable I am when it comes to other animals - I've never had the chance to get intimate with lions, tigers or even deer.

Monkeys, I still hold a grudge against... It was a monkey which made me throw down the big popcorn cone I'd just bought (I thought it was a life-or-death situation - in hindsight, I know I should have kept the pop corn and shown the courage of my forefathers ...which, incidentally reminds me of Wodehouse's words in describing Clarence) ). When I narrated the incident to my aunt, she said I should have just scattered some of the popcorn on the ground and not given the whole thing away. But how could I be expected to show presence of mind, when my usual state is absent-mindedness? I still yearn for That Particular popcorn. Oh, Monkey-who-stole-my-popcorn, you're a blot on your species. (Rant over.)

If the talk turns to Monkeys, can talk of Donkeys be far behind?

But then, I've never interacted enough with the species to form an opinion :)

If there's one thing I have against birds in general, it's that they seem think that the clothes drying out in the sun are the best places to shit in... I've had the misfortune of having to wash affected clothes, so it is with deep feeling that I speak now.

I have omitted almost 90% of species. But I'm just a speck in the universe, my mind is just a tiny part of the speck, it can do only so much.

Apologies to the species I've overlooked, for lack of mental capacity and energy - just enjoy the life your ancestors wanted you to have, when they came along with Noah, and don't bother to take time out to grieve against a poor soul like me :)

(I wanted to mention Homo Sapiens, and say m. of the s. a la PGW, but the overpowering effect of Sleep has prevented me from doing so...)

Au revoir, folks.

* I managed to sneak in some of my Reminisces :P

** References to a couple of Wodehouse works. In case you are wondering what I'm talking about, go read Wodehouse. Else, just shut up.

(P.S. I just wanted to mention that I've given credit where it's due, at least I hope so. I've been seeing too much of ingratitude recently, that it makes saying thanks all the more important)