I was walking down a crowded lane in Pondicherry, avoiding a melee of cycles, motorbikes, rickshaws, maneuvering heaps of sand besides the road dug up here and there presumably for laying water pipes. A handicapped man on a three-wheel scooter zipped past me followed by a dog with a collar round its throat. It weaved its way through cyclists and bikers, dodged rickshaws auto rickshaws, skirted the mounds of sand, leapt over potholes, without breaking stride. I stopped to watch, captivated and full admiration at its incredible dexterity and capacity of adaptation.
At the same moment an image rose in my mind of well brushed poodles on leashes, docilely following their masters and mistresses on clean sidewalks, peopled by a few disciplined pedestrians. It goes without saying which dog I thought was happier.
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