Howling At Night
Ever since my university days in Waterloo, I have a habit of going out at night and by that I don’t mean "going out to have fun". I mean I have a tendency to shift my entire schedule a few hours behind so I end up doing most of my errands and chores in the evening. Walking around on empty streets at night is indeed very enjoyable. In a quiet university town like Waterloo and even in Toronto where I go around in my car most of the time, I don’t feel unsafe at all. I would avoid suspicious areas and of course stay alert but safety is not a huge issue.
It is a safe neighbourhood where our office is located in Pune. Being sent to work in our international office, I expect to spend a lot of time at work simply because of the increased workload. It did not occur to me that there would be any problem for me to work late. Turns out there is an unexpected twist. My expat coworkers warned me that all those stray dogs that look so docile during the day turn into something fierce at night. I don’t doubt them…I can hear howling every night from my hotel room. While the dogs would get out of people’s way in daylight, they would get up close to you at night and possibly without good intentions. TG taught me a trick that if I ever find myself in trouble, pick up a rock and make a gesture to throw at the dog. After listening to his wife’s concern about his safety when he has to walk home after late nights at work (and TG’s much bigger than me), I really have to think twice next time I want to work late in the office. It doesn’t help that I’m afraid of dogs too.
Although I’ve only spent a week here in India, I get a feeling that things I worry about have taken a turn down to an almost primitive level. I worry whether there’ll be electricity, hot water in the tap, and now dogs that may attack. Life cerntainly play by different rules here.
