Deferred updates, resolutions and stray dogs

I've been dying to write about a very exciting update (actually two) in my life, but am desisting - for a few months atleast.

I've decided to go hammer and tongs at the gym once Mad March ends and also get back to running again. Monday looms up ahead tomorrow but I'm kind of looking forward to it. The weekend was great, full of movies, dogs, cats and friends. Amongst the movies I saw Namaste London which was built on a cliched idea but the execution was far from hackneyed, so quite liked it. Also saw 'The Hills have eyes' which was the Hollywood version of a C-grade Hindi flick. The worst part was that the fellow at the box office in Inox was enthusiastically recommending this movie to people who were asking about the new releases. I'd have happily throttled the guy had I gone with his recommendation. A glowing reference for this movie unfortunately came from someone I dont even know, so theres not much I can do about it besides heaping mental scorn and derision on her.

I've been planning to do a feature on some stray animals that I encounter on the streets but Abodh does it much much better and also knows their individual idiosyncracies and behaviours so will send him the pics I've been taking and wait for him to do a detailed write up on each. Below are a few quick glimpses at some of the guys I keep running into:

These two outside the Standard Chartered office near Flora Fountain are a pleasure to watch. I think the cat has a huge crush on the dog, the way she keeps following him all the time

Left: Mini at Eros theatre is an extremely friendly dog who always drops in to say hi and then promptly nods off to sleep. She loves to put her paw on your hand to attract attention
Right: Aravind, the cobbler at Eros looks after the strays - there are two poms left with him after some slums were demolished. One of the Poms getting a Sunday wash here.

Left: The Towing-truck guys near the Stadium restaurant at Churchgate have a special bond with 3 very old strays (Rani, Raju and Kalu). This one is Rani - she's very shy and timid - and pretty
Right: Kalu is probably the oldest stray in the area - he's a fave of the people around there. He's very dignified and quite. Whiles away his time sleeping in the shade. This kid in the pic lives outside the Churchgate station and is one fiesty bundle, tipping us about injured strays in the area.

Left: Jerry is the venerable oldie living in the Freemason house opposite the Sterling theatre. Abodh says he used to be the unchallenged king of this area in his heydays. He's really old and doddering now but still needs to be muzzled before we can do a routine check-up for him. He's like one of those kind geriatrics but you know from the growls in his throat that he was The Don in his younger days. He has class and is one of the few dogs who can truly ignore you if you're not an acquaintance (I'm still trying to endear myself, but it isnt happening anytime soon).
Right: Lilly - she's the sweet timid old girl near Brabourne Restaurant on the Dhobi Talao lane opposite Metro Adlabs. She had an eye inflammation when I met her. She hates being caught for treatment but was a pleasure to catch hold of while Abodh ministered to her. I'm glad that she's off the list of dogs to be treated but miss meeting her.

Left: Raju is the third old stray at Stadium restaurant, Churchgate. He went scratch-scratch-scratch when I met him for the first time today. He's like one of those old-timers who hang around at village corners, unconsciously scratching themselves while taking a snooze or bubbling away at the Hookah. He's extremely camera shy too.
Right: Coco - he was amongst the first few stray dogs to get adopted in the area. He lives behind the RC Church at Colaba, spending his old years in solitude and reminiscing about those good old days when things were cheap and politicans were'nt corrupt.

Rocky - at Freemasons house opposite Churchgate is my favoritest dog so far. Before meeting him, he was introduced as the 'psycho pom' who barks so much that he may just have a heart attack. He's an amazing guy - he hates everyone who comes into his territory with the core of his heart.
He makes this huge production of attacking - straining at his chain to bite but forgot today that he was'nt chained - so shot ahead at me but froze in his tracks when he realized that there was no chain to stop him, hehe. So he piped down and came over to check me out, while we were looking over Jerry, waiting for me to make a false move.
I love talking back to him in an unafraid tone (coz that peeves him to no end) and fantasize about ruffling all his hair or tickling his nose with a straw when he's fast asleep *evil grin*