The Bully Boy

I pounded the pavement beside my car impatiently. A hundred million thoughts about my current project ran through my mind, keeping pace with my furious strides. I had places to go....things to do....but my progress had been arrested by my driver, who seemed to have miraculously vanished while I had stepped out for a quick chore.

Patience has never been one of my virtues! Amidst the multitude of thoughts that crowded my head, there was a ember of anger directed at my absconding driver.

The ember soon became a blaze. In my anger, I failed to see an old fluffy dog sniffing about my feet.
But a moment later, my attention was arrested by a pair of soulful eyes, gazing up at me with hope shining through.
Food? She seemed to ask me. I haven't eaten in days, Lady, so how about you and me moseying over to that delicious kebab joint and sinking our fangs into succulent pieces of meat.
As I considered her offer, she thumped a rhythmic " Say Yes...Say Yes" chant with her straggly white and brown tail.

I have always been a sucker for the underdog, especially those of the canine kind. So, how could I resist the melting brown eyes set in her dear brown-white face? Not to mention the primeval tail thumps ? A few moments later, my friend Lassie was gleefully digging into a portion of tandoori chicken. And, the driver was yet to make an appearance.

I continued to muse and walk, this time without anger or impatience.
With Lassie by my side, I was willing to wait.
All at once, I felt a whizzing past my ankle. Lassie started.
It was a sharp stone!
Outraged, we both swung around. A few yards away stood a little boy in denim. He couldn't have been more than 8 and yet, his eyes glinted and gleamed with the unabashed malice of an adult. I suppose he expected Lassie to cower but she was emboldened by my presence and turned her attentions back to her meal. As I watched, the little brat hssted and psssted at her and distorted his face in the ugliest of expressions. When his bestial sounds & posturing failed to evoke a reaction of fear from her, he searched the ground for another object to fling at her. Anger welled up in me once more as the brat swooped down and threw another stone before I could get to him.
Behind me, I heard a yelp of pain and before me, a little mean spirit laughed with unholy glee.
So much for the innocence of youth....
My palms itched to box his ears.

But with remarkable restraint, I let him off with a glare and demanded to know how he would like to be teased and pelted with stones by someone bigger, stronger and meaner than he was. The brat glowered at me, obviously unimpressed by me. I could see Lassie look nervous as she felt the full impact of his gaze on her. As he picked the third stone, I drew myself to my full height and issued my sharpest No. A NO which brooked no refusal, holding veiled threats of aching ears and red rumps.

Much to my surprise, his face crumpled. And he burst into tears. Not of remorse as I was to find out.
As the child bawled, an obese woman draped in shocking pink emerged from the shadows. Holding the child protectively beside her, the amazon turned to me.
" Your son?"
" Haan* my son..what did you do to him? why is he crying?" She demanded angrily of me.
The sobs in the background grew in volume.
" Your son was teasing that dog and hurled 2 stones at it. I stopped him at his third"
" So what? It is only a stray dog, isn't it?"
" It does not mean that your son or you have the right to stone it"
" You are not the owner of the dog, na? When my son hurts your dog, you come and complain to me. But otherwise..."
" Otherwise what?" I demanded icily
A few people around us slowed to watch the battle of the amazons.
" What is this? You yell at a strange child because he threw stones at a strange dog? Have you no shame for scolding a child? People all over India stone dogs. In fact, they run over them also and you are making a fuss about a child throwing a stone? Why don't you go reform someone else?"
" I did not yell at your child, although what he really deserves is a sound spanking for his cruelty to a weaker creature...."
But before I could complete my tirade, a bearded old man interjected "That is our dog and your son had no business throwing stones at it. "
As the two of us gaped at the good Samaritan, he continued " I am the owner of the Kebab shop there and Brownie is our shop dog."
" But she has no collar or tags..How will anyone know it is not a stray? So, you cannot blame a child for not differentiating between a stray and a pet"
" Madam, It does not matter. Your son knew that Brownie did not belong to him, didn't he? So why did he tease and hurt it?"

The vision in pink was flustered. But I was now seething with indignation at the old man.

How could he assume that a creature could be harassed as long as it was 'owned' by the harasser? As I composed my words of protest, he directed a gentle smile my way. "Madam, some people do not understand the value of beings - humans or four legged ones. Or the emptiness of the concept of ownership of people and animals. You and I could have argued with her all evening but she would never understand. So I had to speak in the language she understood. Let us hope that this will make her and her son think a second time when they are tempted to stone a strange animal"

As the lady beat a hasty retreat with her now silent son in tow, I could not help but ask the old man if Brownie was indeed his shop dog. Once again, that gentle smile.

"No, she isn't." He replied. "We feed her everyday and she spends time around the shop. But does she belong to us? Not at all."

As I drove away leaving Lassie contentedly devouring the last of her meal, I was in a quandary.

Was the old man right to have taken the ownership route?

Or should I have stood my ground and argued about animal rights?

Which took precedence - the cause or the effect?

I will never know, will I?