Monday, April 10, 2006

Tommy – I, II, III

If you misunderstood the title of this post to be the hierarchy of medieval monarchs from the 14th century who ruled their kingdom to glory and subsequently to debacle, then let me tell you, you have got it wrong. Tommy is the name of the dogs we had over the years and since we were too lazy to find new names for the successors of Tommy the First, we christened each of the dogs we had henceforth as Tommy itself. Well I was a history freak that time and since I didn’t want to give the names of mighty European/Asian emperors such as Kaiser, Caesar, Tippu etc. anymore to such silly (forgive me SPCA guys, mere pun intended when I call dogs silly) creatures as dogs, I thought that let Tommy alone handle the entire twinge. So there were three Tommy’s we had till date.

Tommy the First
He was the one who started the great Tommy Empire in my house. He was brought home when I was in second standard, as a puny little creature that perfectly fitted in my father’s palm. A true torch-bearer of his genre, Tommy the first used to assault me and my brother whenever we tried to pull his tail or knock his head or take away his meals. We used to find rescue by clambering up the window grill or climbing the shrubs outside our house or sometimes going near the tap and opening it to full throttle in less than 2 seconds. Tommy feared water. Whenever he was given a wash, he shrinks beyond imagination, difficult even to see, that we felt ourselves humiliated thinking that we ran for our lives panicked by this skinny skeletal figure.

My quest towards knowledge wouldn’t have materialized if it wasn’t for Tommy. I learned simple harmonic motion when I dangled a bread piece to a stick using a twine and swayed it in front of him. His head followed the same simple harmonic motion. I varied the length of the string and noticed the change of pace in Tommy’s head movements. Once I made an arrangement of a battery and a LED bulb and went near Tommy. I placed the two wires on Tommy’s cheeks and with a loud scream, turned the LED ON and right after that I heard the first ever cry from Tommy. It took him three complete days to come out from that shock. Later whenever I show him my two hands pretending that two wires are there in my grip, I find Tommy becoming restive.

But he was a great dog. No one dared to enter our house when he was there. On his last day I saw him going out the gate, talking to another dog, coming back to his kennel and then drowning silently towards the depths of death. What he probably told the other dog was, “Friend, I am going, take care of my masters!”

Tommy the Second
He was a master tunnel maker. The dream project of interconnecting all the coconut-tree pits in our house by an underground passageway was accomplished by him. During rainy seasons, when the soil is wet and I and my family members, who have the least idea about these tunnels, walk over them, we sometimes succumb to these subways. We feel like soil has eroded from under our feet. And we collide into these tunnels. Thus we were able to relate ourselves with the emotions of an elephant when it falls in an elephant trap.

Tommy – II served the added responsibility of an usher. He used to lead me and my family members when ever we go outside the house. It was on one such mission that Tommy surrendered himself to the front wheel of a truck.

Tommy the Third
He was a traveler par excellence. There is not even a single village in Southern India that he hasn’t paid a visit to. He disappears on one fine day and come back after a week or so with travel sores and bruises throughout his body. He was the kind of dog whom you call ‘here’ and he manipulates the word ‘here’ and prefixes a ‘t’ in front of the word ‘here’ and act accordingly. Yes, he had a strong command over the English language and literature. He was not as efficient as the other Tommys due to which the Tommy Empire came to an end at my house. He passed away suffering from the repercussions of one such journey, in which he was out-rightly battered.

We haven’t had a dog in our house after that. And we are planning to get one. Let me try for a new name this time. Since I changed to a corporate freak now, I won’t be giving it names such as Bill (Gates), Jack (Welsh) or even Henry (Ford) for that matter. So Kaiser, Caesar and Tippu; here I come...


19 comments:

La Louve said...

me firstttt :))

La Louve said...

k, now i can comment! phew! :))hey you were really evil... Feel really sorry for T1. wonder why tht fellow didnt tear you to pieces--he should have!

always a pleasure reading about pet dogs! :)

hey i've had a Caesar and an Elizabeth ;)

Jiby said...

jithu, that wuz a good fun read...i feel i actually lost a lot of antogonism i harbored towards people keeping pets, after reading this.

i also noticed you havent written anything new in jithuvintelokam for a long time...dont give up on your malayalam writing...i think you really have a very special talent in the mother tongue...hope you dont let that pass by.

quills said...

Loved reading Tommy(s) tales.

My darling doggie...My first and only, my greatest love, Prince. Yes, that was his name and until his last breath stayed the most adorable, loyal, loving, naughty, dog he was.

One thing he shared with Tommy 1 was his disgust of bathing. :) But he still had to proceed with his weekly baths without giving up on his royal dignity, altho many a time he did just that. My bro, dad and I had to even spell out the word b-a-t-h as he could other wise understand it in English and the word "kullikam" in Malyalam. The minute he saw movements usually on a Sunday in the general direction of the tap behind the house , a bucket and soap being discreetly taken to the assigned spot, Prince used to skoot.

You would find him eventually under the bed or the car where he would bare his teeth for us (the only time mind you)at one last attempt to escape from the weekly ritual. But we found another way to coax him out and that was by sprinkling a couple of drops of water on him and he would then give up his mighty fight and with all the royal dignity he could muster move to the venue. And once bathing and the pampering that comes with it starts, he was meek as a lamb and loved the free massage that comes with the package. And ofcourse freshly bathed and powdered and towel dryed, and when he is finally the proud owner of a shiny gleaming coat of fur,the old shaggy coat replaced by silky smooth hair, he used to put on airs. Gosh! I have used up this space..I better write a post about Prince on my own blog. Forgive me! I could not resist. :) Now you know..never get me started on my pets.

MadV said...

Oye Oye doggie.... Me too planning to keep one. If you find a good name, just pass it on to me as well :-D.

Sarah said...

After reading abt T.1, I am thinking twice about owning a pet dog.. I have a son and not too sure wht wonderful inventions he would create!!!
Sarah

Thanu said...

Dog names - Bruce, Pilot and Shadow are my favorite names..

Everyone needs to have a pet once in a life that is my take on pets

venus said...

and the name is ...?!?!?!

poor dog tommy the first, hope he was not injured too bad.

Geo said...

didntya get anything better to write abt?

=))

Sreejith Narayanan said...

"Since I changed to a corporate freak now, I won’t be giving it names such as Bill (Gates), Jack (Welch) or even Henry (Ford) for that matter."

One day you also will become a corporate giant. So isn't this a munkoor jaamyam? ;)

he he... nice post.

Geo said...

corporate giant-aa??
yivanaa
yey...oru chance-um illa

=))

nestpa said...

Hello Jithu,
I needed some help from you. Can you give me your email id. I can't find it on your profile. Mine is neil_padayatty(at)yahoo.com.

Invincible said...

This time u shud christen him as Tommy Jr. :)
how @ Bush as ur dog's name, or SRK or KEkta ?

hilarious !!
Lemme send ur blog url to PETA and Maneka Gandhi for inflicting pain on poor innocent animals for entertainment.
:)

-Poison- said...

terminator ennu perittoloo!

appolum aa t1,t2, t3 lineage kalayandallo :D

Aashi said...

my doggy's name was Rockey!
and hey jithu congrates for ur convocation!!....sorry late!...not comming online much(following ur advice!)

ARK said...

that was a nice read. had a dog in our home years ago who we called Vicky. she (i can't say 'it') was the best pet anyone could hope for, was like an indispensable part of our house. used to do such wonderful things as picking newspaper from the gate. but the real fun and often a mess was when she decided to take on our pet cat! ha, ha it is simply awesome to have a cat and a dog as pets at the same time... i plan to get a rottweiler or a great dane later on. hmmm. should find a name....

venus said...

u've been Tagged if ya wanna get tagged :)

Anonymous said...

am not an animal lover...i alwaz stay away frm dem...i do love dem in some ways but dat too frm a distance.

silverine said...

Looks like Tommy II took revenge for electrocuting Tommy I by digging those tunnels :) Poor guy, so many dogs get run over by vehicles. Why can't the driver brake or avoid them?
I like Tommy III, he has the attitude :) There is not even a single village in Southern India that he hasn’t paid a visit to LOL Some dogs are like that, trust me I know. I have had dogs since ages. Anyways he died honorably on the roads he loved to roam.

R.I.P all the Tommies!