The day of the brown dog

 

The day of the brown dog

India’s astounding victory over Australia in the test series earlier this week would have drawn just a mild ‘oh, bahut achchha’ (oh, very good) from me if it wasn’t for the strong reactions of people over some yellow-dog Australian cricket supporters allegedly calling an Indian player ‘brown dog’. Then for me it became a question of language, and not decency or propriety.

Of course, that should not have happened to a dog. The remark let slip the dogs of war among us Indians. Everybody and his dog was horrified and enraged, and shouted out against the ‘racist slur.’ They wrote, sent and forwarded scathing comments on social media on how it was mean as a junkyard dog. What took me by surprise was the vehement reaction even from a friend and her son who are desperately looking for a gori (fair-complexioned) bride for the young man.

The incident also redefined cricket. The Australian cricket-lovers colour-coding an Indian just shows cricket, the gentleman’s game, has gone to the dogs. It is not a contact sport like football, so players resort to sledging to demoralize the opponents, and stupidly enough that works.

Compare it with tennis. When a front row spectator commented on Australian Nick Kyrgios during Miami Open, 2019, the player actually engaged with him. An official immediately went up to the spectator and asked him to behave himself or move to the rows at the back.  Ultimately, in the doghouse, the spectator was sent out of the stadium. But in the cricket match in question, the officials did not immediately ask the culprits to call their dogs off.

Nick Kyrgios taunts a heckling spectator at the Miami Open by throwing a ball to the stands (CNN)

Well, I am not sure what triggered the reaction among us. Is it the word ‘brown’ or is it ‘dog’?

People from any country with skin of any hue would be stupid to comment on somebody else’s skin colour for none of us had any control over who we were born to or the colour of our respective skins. And the surety of inheriting parents’ skin colour has also taken a different tone since Mendel came up with his three Laws of Inheritance.

In any case, Australians live in a narrow slot in that respect. They are a country of people whose foreparents moved (to put it politely) from other countries to set up home in that continent. Yet like people of the Indian sub-continent, they play this game which less than a dozen countries on the planet play, drive on the left of the road like we do and were part of the British Empire too. We are so similar, like apples and oranges of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and therefore the rule a dog should not eat dog should be applicable on them.

If that means they said ‘brown’ to clarify that they were the ‘white’ specimens of the species, that should be fine. If somebody merely wishes to emphasize that they can identify colours, why should we mind?

Now the thought dogging me is if the objection is to the word ‘dog’. A little bird reminds me that we humans shamelessly compare ourselves to animals: eat like a pig, memory like an elephant, clam up, smell a rat, copy cat, and of course, the birds and bees. (Really, what a combination!) But human-dog relations are probably the top dog in the category of mutual love.     

I do not need to lecture you on how important dogs (brown ones too) have been to us humans for centuries. I would just mention that symbols of loyalty, devotion and friendship, they are important members of the household they live in, regardless of the shade of their fur from white to chocolate and black. Those among us who keep dogs as pets, have even elevated them to the level of a relation, and do not bat an eyelid if you call them dog-parents. If the wagging of their tails is any measure, the animals too seem to enjoy the creature comforts and attention. And the story of Mahabharata mentions how the god of Dharma took the form of a dog and it was the only creature which accompanied Yudhishthir on his last journey to Heaven. Then why this reaction? 

Yet if it is any solace for anyone’s hurt feelings, the Australian taunts acted like double dog dare for the Indian team. In the game of survival, the Indian underdog finally had his day. They refused to have the hang dog air, but were the glory hounds. Riddled with enough injuries to cobble dogs with, they fought like a dog with a bone until the last dog was hung. And finally, these lucky dogs won.

The victory made every Indian as happy as a dog with two tails even though the name and the wallet, if I may point out, went to the players.

As for the rival team and its supporters, the black dogs must be eating them now as they lick their wounds.  

After reading so much about this canine, if the dream of brown dog breeds like the dingo, Irish water spaniel, Labrador, poodle, pitbull,  Leonberger, Chihuahua,   Cocker spaniel, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Bolonka Zwetna or the Pakistani Mastiff or any of the others hounds you tonight, do not worry.

The brown dog can represent a partner or a friend. To dream of being a brown dog yourself indicates that you wish to build tranquility with others. And, that you are a good friend.

Dreaming of a brown dog generally represents happiness and contentment. It is a symbol that is much focused on our own relationships. 

https://www.auntyflo.com/dream-dictionary/brown-dog-dream-meaning

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