| Sunday, 23 March 2025 |
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Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],
Hello again from sunny, hot, and gridlocked Bengaluru. After the relatively pleasant traffic last week on account of the extended Holi break, this week has been terrible.
But I’ve learned to make my peace with it by accepting that quality of life in any Indian city is about picking and optimising between three factors—weather, people, and infrastructure. But you can only pick two at any one time!
Speaking of weather, remember I told you about how many of the pink Tabebuia trees near our office had started flowering too early, in February itself? Well, they’ve shed all their flowers and are now doing a second round of flowering!
Back at home, here’s Gabru one morning this week, watching out for an impending cat invasion of our backyard.
Over the years, he’s learned to associate the cacophonic screeching of squirrels from the neighbouring Peepul tree as a warning of a prowling predator, which almost always is a cat (but a few times a year, it could be monkeys visiting us from the adjoining forested army camp).
And speaking of dogs, remember Bribo? Well, the little champ is doing okay, all things considered. He’s developed this limp-shuffle style of walking and running, which is simultaneously heart-breaking and cute. I cannot explain it.
We’ve developed this daily evening feeding routine where he rolls over and gets belly rubs and pets from me for the first few minutes, all the while making those whining and whimpering sounds that I only recently understood as excitement or pleasure. Then, I check his rear paw (the one that was broken) for any signs of rawness. Occasionally, I spray it with a spray-on aerosol bandage (Aluspray, if you’re curious) while his whimpers change tone from pleasure to mild irritation or pain.
That done, it’s food time. He polishes off the food in a jiffy, curled up tail wagging while he’s eating. Then, I try my best to get him to drink some water. It’s the most frustrating thing!
Despite it being summer, most days, the little bugger just refuses to drink water that I pour for him.
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