Not So Perilous Khatru

“Khatruuuuuuuuuu…..” was the voice that echoed in his ears as the gates opened, its hinges made the squeaking noise while he lay on his podium cum pigeon-tower. Being at a height he had the whole view of the park where other dogs walked. There must have been at least fifty of them but he didn’t know how to count and knew each one by face, if not the name. He didn’t even know what his name was. All he knew was: when they came, the sound that he heard when they looked at him was 'Khatru'. Unaware of what the sound meant, he had gotten used to give a positive response on hearing that word.

When he lifted his gaze to see the source of the echo, two faces appeared before his eyes: One of them was familiar while the other was new. He jumped to his feet quickly and welcomed the guests with a bark, standing on the edge of his podium. They didn’t know why he would start to bark incessantly whenever someone entered, but he greeted everyone with it. They’re here. They're here. They're here. if I keep shouting maybe they’ll give me food. Not maybe, I know they will. They will, won’t they? he asked himself. He spoke with the little vocabulary he had. Though the only word in his dictionary was ‘Woof’, he had many tones to use it and each one had a different meaning attached. The only difference was of the volume he decided to speak it in. He always thought they understood what he said. Why shouldn’t they, every time he let his voice out, they turned to look at him and he had their attention. Then either someone would give him the ball-shaped food, or caress his head or just screamed Khatruuuuuuuuuuuuu in the same tone as his. That always made him jump.

He tried to speak to the new person that came in while the old one pet him as the routine was. Khatru had the habit of wrapping people's hand in his mouth; not bite, and just wrap it between his teeth. Only if someone could tell him he’s a 5-year old Labrador and way past the teething stage, he would know it wasn't the right way for an adult dog to behave. But why will an alpha-male care? He was the king of the park and all must bow before him. Any dog that dared to come near the podium had to hear his wrathful growl and Khatru threatened to pounce on them from the height of 3-feet. Khatru’s foot slipped many times from the edge, but he always balanced himself and never fell.

The park was ten times the size  compared to his little podium where he had his own companions. A cream colored female and a black dog with cream colored spots. Whenever they came, all he understood was ‘Khatru', 'Sonia', and 'Pepsi’. He knew they called him when they called out 'Khatru,' but he didn’t know what the other words were. He often heard them when they talked to the trio on the podium, which sound the other two responded to, he didn’t know. All he cared for was food.

Khatru's female cream colored podium buddy had a habit of stretching out one of her paws and do the limp-fish handshake whenever someone came to her. Love is an infectious disease and this disease had been spread to Khatru too, fused with his own. He’d put his paw forward, pull the hand with it and then try to wrap it with his mouth.

Days used to be too crowded for him when he first got here. He wasn’t accustomed to so many canines around him. He had always been more comfortable with humans since he was a kid. That’s who he always had interaction with, that's who he was before he lifted his faith off every single one of them. He wasn’t intelligent enough to outsmart them, and he had no option either. A simple minded dog who only needed love and food; both of them together, if possible.

Nights were too silent for him, even the rays of the sun left the company of his eyes, and they were his eyes’ best friend, that’s when they worked best. All he could see with them in night was darkness; he often couldn’t see himself as his skin camouflaged with the black of the night. But the little lights spread throughout the park made his hollow eyes glimmer dark green, sometimes blue. Maybe not his, but all the other eyes he saw did. Most of them used to stay closed, and everyone was usually tired from running here and there during the time they had come to feed him and others in the morning. It was feeding cum running cum jumping exercises. Everyone caught food, and their jaw used to move swiftly. Their mouths stayed close until last moment when the food came near to their; that’s when their mouth used to open and grasp it in their grip. Some had white cloth wrapped around them; some had a red colored head that would cover itself with skin and hair as time passed; some had broken hind limbs, so they always had to drag themselves with the help of their forelimbs, but they did, somehow. He saw lot of dogs come in and go out, one would think he’d stop paying attention after few days or weeks, or even months. No, it had been over a year since Khatru took his first step inside the park, and he still greeted every single of them with a bark, a threat to make the leap of faith from his podium, but he never did. He instantly became fond of the podium. Regardless of what happened, he'd never get off. The king had a good view of his subjects and whoever entered or exited his kingdom via the gate with rusted hinges that squealed in pain every time it moved.

He wasn’t used to living under the sky that constantly changed its color, and that had made him angry to a great extent. That, and not being able to see the face anymore that he had every day for four years. Khatru used to stay alone inside the home when his friend was out and Khatru would wait for him the whole day. When he returned, Khatru would jump in joy of seeing him. The friend used to love this, but that was back when Khatru was Tyson and he was smaller in size. Much to his sadness, the Khatru's friend didn’t grow as fast as Khatru himself did. Somehow, that didn’t play in his favor. As he grew bigger and heavier, it had been harder for his friend to catch him. He fell to the ground whenever Tyson hopped to licked his face. What he did see grow, or at least change, was his clothes. From shorts and tees to jeans and tees, to shirts and trousers followed by a coat over the shirt. Not as black or furry as Tyson’s, that made him wonder why his friend loved that more than the Tyson’s permanent one. Anxiety kicked in Tyson with time. He became sad whenever his friend left. It meant Tyson would have to stay hungry till the friend came home at sundown.

Tyson often hopped on him, sometimes around, in the morning that was followed by a loud rage that wasn’t a ‘woof’ from his mouth. Waving his hand over his black coat, the friend brushed off all the hair Tyson had shed. That was his guilty pleasure; Tyson loved leaving a part of him on him, so he’d smell the same in the evening. But the friend didn’t let a single strand of hair be on him or his clothes. That didn’t discourage Tyson. His friend often had to go to his room to change and that made him stay for twenty more minutes. Tyson smiled every time he got some time extra with his friend..

Tyson didn’t know what he was doing and, one day, tired from everything, his friend took Tyson for a trip and the moment he got off the car, the door closed and it dashed past him. Tyson never saw his face again. He ran after the car as fast as he could and as far as he could. He stopped eventually, but not before his foot slipped and his face touched the rough and hot ground.

Walking, someone took him in and put him on the podium he was on now.  He missed being able to make a quick jump on others. Abandoned by someone who watched Tyson grow up, who Tyson watched grow up, was hard on him. From being a friendly dog that jumped on him to jumping on others to attack was a quick transition. He seemed a threat to everyone. He hated being tied by a chain or a leash, but he left them no option. He was a danger to everyone. He had become Khatru. He didn’t trust anyone here. He didn’t have the cold air that he had at the place that was once home. His trust: lost, and they all looked like him.

He yearned for a good company, but he always chased them away with his ever eloquent and cogent bark. He’d attack them, but the chain restricted his movement.

When they would come in the morning, they'd feed him in the bowl, and he ate silently but turned his volume to full when he set to barking. He’d call them, but they won’t listen. First his best friend left him, and now everyone there was ignorant of him. He came to realisation that communication with his one-word vocabulary wasn't not going to work in his favor here, wishing he knew more words to express himself. He stopped attacking them. Gradually,he realized they meant no harm to him, but ignorance is as harmful as beating. Each time they ignored him, he reminisced about the time when his friend left him. They’re all the same, why am I even trying? He questioned himself one night. Observing his silent behavior, he was released off his chains and quickly jumped to take his permanent place on the podium. There was no way a chain would break his spirit to be a King.

The podium had its own perks and soon he was beginning to think a little highly of yourself. Making the walks on the edge, and examining everyone he waited for the food. He made high jumps  to grasp the food. With his gigantic body, even jumping took its toll and stopped making them. He realized there was no point in eating something if it was going come out through the same route, but in a different state.

Maybe the word Khatru meant food because every time he heard the word, they’d throw a food ball at him and he’d catch impeccably. The food wasn’t the only thing that he needed. He needed love too, and to get that he had to play by their rules. He picked up his old habits along with new ones he learned here. He accepted the fact that those four years of his life were gone now and they were nice to everyone but him. He wasn’t going to be an outcast. He may have pounced on them once in a while , but like everybody else, he craved for love. Being a spoilt brat was not going to gain him anything. And in a year, he became the smartest dog in the shelter, in his own way.

Going through love and ignorance, no matter how angry he used to get, he knew what he wanted. He had his way of communicating his message with just repeating the one word again and again and again and again. There was no stopping. He said Hi to every trespasser with a bark, regardless of the fact he was coming in, going out or just passing outside the grill. He was glad at least he didn’t have chains on him and he could pass his snide comments without thinking. Old habits do die hard. He was free. he didn't think bout his past now, he had come a long way to accept the world he was in.

The new family he now had, with his new name, was more than what he had expected. Even they ignored him for a long time, but the love he now got from them was hundred folds of what he received earlier. He’s not to be blamed for that, they were much more in quantity than the one in the home, only if he could count. This was his home now.