To (Ba)Be or not to (Ba)Be

After Polka arrived, there has been a lot more vocal interest in our family life. 'So what about a baby? ' 'Now that you take care of Polka, you are equipped to take care of your own' 'Your biological clock is ticking!' 'whats wrong with you - raising a dog instead of your own kid??' I used to be ready with a canned but honest reply 'I don't feel the need to have a baby.' But this is usually followed by 'Hmm.. Is there a medical problem?'

One of the most common comment I get is 'You will be a wonderful mom!' Now, I agree that makes me feel good. I am affectionate. loving and full of infinite wisdom :) I wish I could retort, 'I also have a good body maybe I should become a stripper?'  (Note to self: Join a gym)

Its hard for most people to fathom that some us don't want/need kids. Most of my family and friends mean well and do believe that a baby is necessary to feel 'complete'. How can one say no to an experience of a life time, unconditional love, the support for old age, mid life crisis, maternal instinct, peer pressure or atleast the need to propagate one's genes?

For me, its hard to fathom that people would want to have kids for these reasons. I believe if you are having kids for any reason other than maybe maternal/paternal instincts you should not be having one. Those genes need to go nowhere. Get a life or better still get a dog!

With a 6 billion and bulging population, more than half the world below the poverty line, life expectancy rates moving upwards, the doom and gloom about climate change - do we really need another small, cute, tiny little baby to occupy space on this planet?

Evidently we do. Because there's a baby born every second or so.. I don't understand this urge to have your own when they are so many out there who need a home. Nature will balance it for sure but it won't be pretty. Like dinosaurs, one day we might be extinct too. The universe is expanding and soon might go up in flames. Why not make it better for everyone today? right now?

Be it pets or kids - why not adopt?

Polka Talk

Email from a friend:

Welcome to mommyhood - handling Polka must be just as challenging as handling an infant - except that Polka will always be friendly, welcome you wholeheartedly, be loyal and be with you forever

I am coming up so you better get this party started!

We were invited to a 1 year old's birthday party. My first reaction usually is 'oh its gonna be a bloody screaming affair'. To be fair, in Singapore that is usually not the case. The kids are in the play area with their nannies while the parents are in the party hall making small talk. Not my kind of a party really. But this was a special 'one' and I was actually looking forward to it!

We were among the first to arrive. The party hall was wonderfully decorated with balloons, confetti, streamers et all. The little one - Miss T looked pretty in her new outfit. Soon the other guests started arriving and after the initial introductions, the place was taken over by T and her friends. I found myself sitting alone, just soaking in the atmosphere and loving it. Good food, good music and good company!

T had a great mix of friends - different cultures, background, age groups and races! Some came with their nannies, others with their parents. Quite a few of them were meeting for the first time. That did not deter them. They went around the room, started 'networking', making friends and having a good time. If it were me, I would have been standing in a corner - gauche and awkward - trying to make eye contact and thinking of something brilliant to say. But nah! No awkward moments for these new kids on the block. They were dancing to the groove, moving from one friend to the next, eating donuts, striking up conversations and actually enjoying every bit of it. I could visualize each one of them singing:

Making my connection as I enter the room
Everybody's chilling as I set up the groove

It could have put any MBA networking session to shame!

The cake cutting was nice. T and her parents cut the cake while all of us sang. The kids were enjoying the cake, grabbing from each other's plates and asking for more. Even with all the chaos around, the adults were not hassled. We were happy, relaxed and did not feel the need for a conversation to keep the party going. It was the best kiddie party ever!

PS: Needless to say - Miss T, Polka and the whole gang had a whale of a time :)

Of Music and Dance

A friend of mine recently commented 'Your sister has a musical dog and you have a dancing dog!' '
"Polka and Sufi are cousins after all' I quipped.

Prior to this, I hadn't noticed the connection in names. Music and dance, scale and steps, pitch and pirouette, melody and moves, jazz and waltz, Sufi and Polka!
But the cousins may never see each other - at least not very often. One is in Singapore, the other is in India. Sigh! But recently, thanks to the Indian newspaper, The Hindu, Sufi and Polka made their news debut together in style! Surprising they have a lot in common and are more alike than we sisters. We are usually out of tune!

She likes pop music, I like rock. She likes sitting in the back seat, I love to drive. She likes all things neat and tidy, I thrive in chaos. She is soft spoken, I am loud.
Earlier, the only thing we agreed on were our dead end jobs and mundane routines but now its all about taking time off and getting a life - it's about Sufi and Polka, of Music and Dance.

We are dancing to a different beat!

spay * neuter * sterilize ??

Polka got sterilized at 6 months. I made a list of 'pros' before making the decision:

• If she has a litter who would take care of them?
• We adopted her to take her off the street - not to put more out there.
• Statistics show that sterilized dogs are less prone to certain types of cancer. 
• Singapore AVA authority advocates sterilization.

In short, this was good for Polka and the world at large. Nevertheless, I agonized over the decision. Will she grow to her full potential? Will she experience all the joys of life? Will she remain her bubbly self?  Do I have the right to do this to her?

A friend of mine commented:

We interfered with nature thousands of years ago when we made dogs and cats our companions. Now we have a responsibility to protect them. That means fresh food and water, love and shelter and yes spaying and neutering. The crisis is due to human interference and its our obligation to fix it.

The surgery went fine. Polka recovered soon and was ready to play and jump the very next day. It's been over a month now and she looks healthy and strong but sometimes I still wonder ..

If we can take this decision for dogs as an obligation and responsibility, isn't the responsibility tenfold bigger when it comes to humans ? After all who is causing more harm to the environment ?