Is Bandu less interesting than a tiger?

A few pictures of my friend Bandu, taken in a hurry on two trips to Tadoba Tiger Reserve this year. Perhaps you've read about Bandu in this earlier post?

Bandu is one of the resident dogs at the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation resort near the park entrance. I've been his fan ever since I first met him in January 2008.

There is a particular dog personality-type that I love a lot, and I recognized it in Bandu soon after meeting him. It's seen in some male dogs: highly intelligent, bossy with other dogs, very friendly and polite and docile with humans, and VERY VERY independent. These dogs just don't want to be house pets. Ever. They want to live on their own terms and will never trade in their freedom completely, no matter how much you bribe them!
Another close dog friend Brownie has more or less the same personality; and so did one of our building dogs Toby-Raja.


Why does Bandu look so sleepy in these pictures, and why were they taken in a hurry?
Unfortunately I can only meet and click Bandu after returning from the morning safari, since I go into the forest before sunrise. By the time I get back to the lodge it's 10.30 or 11 a.m. and very hot and sunny. Bandu and the rest of the gang (lady friends, sidekick, offspring) have all gone to sleep in the shade here and there. I wake him for a few minutes and he's always very pleased to see me and thumps his stumpy cropped tail on the ground, before going back to sleep. But he doesn't look his alert and intelligent best at that time of day. He also rolls around in mud to cool himself and it's often liberally plastered on his body, taking away from his good looks somewhat. Next time I go to Tadoba it will be around 47 degrees C there and he'll spend a lot of time wallowing in the nearby marsh. So he'll probably be almost black.

My friendship with Bandu does not go unnoticed out there. Villagers in India tend to gawk for lack of anything better to do, and possibly a woman who travels alone and talks to dogs is considered a bit of an oddity. The lodge staff clearly think I'm eccentric, because no-one much fusses over dogs in that sort of area, though they are passively fond of them and think them useful. Enthusiasm about dogs is pretty much a big-city thing in India, though I have met a few rural adults and children who dote on their pets. I catch other tourists staring at me too, no doubt wondering why I'm clicking a dog, a pi-dog at that (!!!) in a place famous for its tigers and bears. After all unless an animal is critically endangered it can't be interesting or worth photographing, can it? These weird Mumbai women and their weird whims!

One time there was a tourist family sitting nearby while I clicked Bandu's pictures. I overheard the woman of the family commenting (in sniggering tone) on my strange choice of subject. For the first time I was irritated by this unwanted attention and by her insulting attitude to Bandu. I toyed with the idea of telling her politely: "Ma'am, you are no beauty exactly; in fact you are rather common-looking and considerably uglier than this dog if you don't mind my pointing it out; and yet your husband has probably taken hundreds of pictures of you though you have very little aesthetic value, objectively speaking." But of course I didn't really deliver this forthright speech, and besides, her husband quickly hushed her up and she looked a bit uncomfortable when I stared at her.

I can't help wondering when, if ever, Indians will recognize that our dogs are unique and wonderful and deserving of attention? Well we've made a tiny bit of progress at least...we've made a start. Let's just keep telling everyone we can the truth about INDogs, and hope the message will some day penetrate the collective thick-skulled consciousness.

There will always be space for Bandu on my memory card, no matter how many tigers or bears I click in Tadoba. So watch this blog for some pictures of an extra-muddy Bandu next month!



Moharli,
Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve