It’s a dog’s world – and now Indian dogs too!!

"It's a dog's world out there", I understood the meaning of this phrase when I landed in Melbourne. Back in India, I wondered how this could be a dog's world. One look at the malnourished, pelted by kids, often left to die on road kind of street dogs, and you know that dog's life cannot be easy. I am not against dogs, but am not a big fan of theirs either. They are the only ones I am scared off when I come home late in evening. In Mumbai, a girl might not be scared of men when she comes home after 12 at night but she definitely needs to be vigilant about the street dogs surrounding her home turf. That and being a victim of some ferocious, non obedient pet dogs of a few relatives made me an ardent non dog lover. (To put it in mild words to avoid the wrath of PETA)

But my opinion definitely changed when I saw the treatment meted out to the dogs in Melbourne. Firstly there is no species like street dogs. Most of the ones that you encounter are of the poochie variety that to me looks like the Barbie doll version of a dog. Furry, cute, small and often dressed in cute jackets they scurry around speedily. (The owners of such dogs are generally very fit. Not surprising understanding the running around they must be resorting to.) Most of the times, the daily news has some report on a dog being lost and found by the owners, the owners risking their lives for saving their pet's life, etc. And by the way, they are not dogs, they are PETS. At first, news about dogs, ads on pet food, lifestyle shows on dogs (I watched a show dedicated to how dogs can lose weight!! I once read about a treadmill for elephants in Germany, I guess the dogs don't want to be left behind) amused me no end, but now I find myself looking for dope on dogs in the Indian newspapers. And that's where I read this interesting bit of news.

Two entrepreneurs in India, Himanshu Bhasin, 27, and Abhishek Kapoor, 29 have started a dabba service for dogs in Delhi delivering healthy homemade food for your dog. And this is not the first Indian venture of this kind. It was first started by Wasiff Khan as Home Care Foods in 2006. These gentlemen obviously have some great foresight, because, if India is on a growth trajectory and if Indians are following the lifestyle of developed countries, then soon Indian dogs will follow suit too. Three cheers for dog power – Woof Woof Woof!!