Pressing the issue

The stray dog problem in Punjab seems to be beyond control. It’s sad that the powers that be have chosen to not take the issue seriously. The media, too, has largely failed to take it up as a campaign.

Talking of the media, I remember that there was a time when some of my friends in Jalandhar were obsessed about somehow getting their hands on a media house sticker to be put on their cars and even motorcycles. This, they felt, would help them dodge the police if caught violating traffic rules. How this perceived police-journalist arrangement worked was beyond my comprehension.

As we discussed the pros and cons of getting a sticker over tea one day, a canteen employee who was serving us narrated his harrowing ride home on a cycle when he had to shoo away stray dogs the previous night. An office boy overhearing our conversation and the young fellow’s dog incident brought the house down. ‘You should have told the dogs you are from the Press and to not bother you,’ he said.

The joke was on the media and the police of course, but also the civic authorities.

Jasvinder Singh, Jalandhar