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My Alsatian dog, born and brought up in India,
with the two legs on the ground
And the rest two on my chest,
While opening the gate of the unknown house
Of the close relative
And I thinking within what to do,
Whom to call,
How to escape,
Should I run away with
And if I, where,
There lies in the boundary wall,
There lies the small gate to pass
And how to push behind the gate?
O, marking the boss, I unable to move forward nor backward,
I standing standstill,
Like a thief before the police at the station,
I trying to call,
But nobody coming to attend to,
Turning a deaf ear to,
I wanting to climb on to the rooftop
But how,
It will follow me
And bite off,
And so caught in a vortex,
In a strange situation,
At the crossroad.
I trying to make the dog understand, what are you, friend,
Let it be, let it go,
Bark not, howl not please,
Growl not,
Ogle not at me
For a pickpocket or a thief
As fear I your eyes most,
Trying to understand,
But understood it not,
Went on barking,
Finally with the two legs
On my chest,
Licking my mouth
And smelling it,
Like the drunkard’s friendly pet,
Sensing drunken capers.
I too stood silent, unresponsive,
Neither smiling nor signalling,
Like a statue stood I,
Or a jailbird
With the hands in handcuffs,
Like one policeman at the parade ground,
In a restive posture with the rifle,
Doing not left-right,
As for howls, barks and snarls
But finally finding not the owner
Or the master
For a short while,
Trying to mutter in English,
Talking with the dog in capers
Like some Englishman nasally
As it may comprehend English,
An Alsatian dog
Brought from foreign not,
But the canine breed is from.
And with the coming of the master or the madam,
It calmed down at the hint
And lay it gasping
With the tongue out,
A strange experience was it of mine,
Making a tryst with England and the English language,
Trying to comprehend
The nuances and idiosyncrasies
Of the language,
English society and culture,
Life and living,
Manner and etiquette,
Please and thank you,
Good-bye, bye-bye, ta-ta,
See you again,
My dog,
Thank you,
Yes boss.
(Going with a salute.
Hats off to you.)
I speaking in English, my dog speaking in English,
My English Indian English, his English English-English,
Both of us English-English, English-speakers,
My English Indian English, but his English Anglo-Indian English,
My God, let me go this time.
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