Puppy Love!

It was a weird scene at XLRI. Milo was lying on the ground, and Fluffy was on top of him, licking him all over. Cartman, as usual, just stood and watched from a distance. Cleo was slightly disturbed and he shivered away in a corner, while his brothers and sisters were just indifferent. On the path that connects the two hostels, we all stood and watched them...amazed at the sight.

Ever since these cute little pups arrived on campus, life has been quite different. Previously I used to just run between classes, too fast to smell the flowers or look beneath bushes for pups. But somehow now, its a daily routine just to stop by the path and have a look at them.

It all started the day I discovered six little pups, cuddled up in a despicable rug below the huge transmitter device that haunts my hostel's ground floor. Even in the midst of bricks, tools, stones and cardboard pieces these little creatures looked completely at peace. Looking at their satisfied faces as they lay there, on top of each other I fell in love with them.

In the next few days, there was another litter and before we knew, we had pups running all over the place. 13 of them in all. I dont think even their moms can differentiate among them. And since the same dog fathered them all, I don't think he has issues recognizing his little ones. Shifted to a new location, these pups now live off a path that connects the hostels. These pups inhabit the staircase at the entrance of the old girl's hostel, and wiggle in and out of the pots that keep them warm, according to their convenience. I still haven't seen all the 13 of them together, since quite frankly, its quite impossible to get a hold on all them at one go.

Since the days have gone by, I have learnt a lot about the pups in general. As I stop by atleast twice a day to trouble the little angels, they have eased up to me too, and what I have learnt isn't exactly Organizational Behaviour, but it comes close to it. Some of these pups just welcome you when they see you approaching and some just try to hide better. There are others that are indifferent, and a few that are curious and think that the bottom of your jeans is doggy heaven. Some that snarl as you lift them up, some that just stare at you with deep clueless eyes.
Some that prefer the shadows, and some that want the same attention that their fellow pups are receiving.

Thinking of names for them was a tough job! First, there are so many of them, second, once you name a pup, you dont really remember which one is which. We thought of naming them after the seven dwarfs...the lucky ones who got to live with one beautiful woman together. We also thought of naming them after the seven days of the week. Somebody suggested names of companies...I don't blame him, we are all suffering from SIP fever. But none of these names seemed to fit. So we all adopted a pup each and named him as we wished. So now we have Cleo, Cartman, Fluffy, Milo, Dog (yeah, just Dog), Donkey, HLL, Pepper and many more.

Its been a month and I feel that these pups are growing up, just like us. Except that, they get sufficient sleep, they don't have to attend classes at weird times and they don't expect a surprise quiz every session. As I look at them running around JLT, I sometimes feel slightly envious. They aren't bothered about COMA scores or Marketing presentations. They haven't been asked to wear sarees and get humiliated in class interviews. Grades and summers don't exist in their proirities. But they'll still be asked to leave the campus one day, just like us. 13 grown up dogs in the campus would create quite a mayhem. They'll have to make way for the new litters, just like we have to make space for later batches.

How much better would we be when we leave this place, a year and a half from now? How grown up would the pups be, when they are taken away from here? Will we be able to face the world without spoonfeeds? Can we handle the real world when we are all alone? The pups will definitely not ask these questions on any blogs, but I can, so I will. They'll be answered in a long while from now, and when they are answered I shall definitely look back and remember the little pups.

But for now, I shall just look at these pups and remind myself, that life isn't about grades and jobs. Sometimes, its about rolling in the grass on JLT whenever you want to...