Griffs in Goa

Chickens and Dogs

December 29, 2009 at 5:56 am (The Diary) (Benaulim, Climate, Dogs, Fish, Goa, India)

There was a good catch for the fishermen this morning – a full lorry load of sardines but the reward for all their hard work is small because so many people are involved. They will end up with about 400 rupees which is about 6 pounds each.

In England if you keep chickens they are usually rounded up at night and put in a shed where they sleep peacefully until let out the next morning. In Goa there is no such dwellings so the birds roost in the trees. I know this because a cockerel sits on a branch outside my window and we are on the third floor. It starts crowing regularly from three in the morning to all the other male fowl which in turn starts the dogs off barking and howling. If the din wakes you it is a hell of a job to get back to sleep. That’s why I have quite a few Honeybee brandies before I go to bed.

I continue my quest to find expensively made but badly spelt signs. Today I came a cross this illuminated glass fronted sign in Colva: The Baba & Sons: SMILLING, SOUVIERIVERS which I assume means Smiling Souvenirs.

As is the custum here a nativity scene is built outside the house on Xmas Eve. Our guesthouse is no exception and has a six foot semicircle construction, a brick high and filled with sand. Boulders are put in the back to represent mountains and statues of Mary & Joseph et al are strategically placed, fairy lights are added to complete the nativity scene. Every morning we come downstairs and we find Tripti the guard dog and her eight week old puppy, aptly named ‘Puppy” asleep on the sand in the nativity scene. This morning alas things were different. Tripti was chasing the pigs and chickens but poor puppy was lying motionless in the sand. I was just about to leave when the pup let out an awful howling scream. Fatima the owner came over and said that it was dying. Life is so harsh here. Instead of taking it to the vet like we would do, she got one of the Indian workmen to move it. He unceremoniusly picked Puppy up by its back legs so it was dangling like a dead rabbit, carried it yelping with no concern for the animals comfort and took into the back garden where he dumped it at the base of a Banana Tree. The tree was under our back balcony. As a dog-lover I found the howls and yelps of agony very upsetting. Life is difficult in India but for dogs it is the most cruel of existences. Puppy had to endure a very painful and slow death while all around carried on as though nothing was happening.

The very unusual weather continues. It is still cloudy with very little sun. There is a heavy dew in the morning and it has a lot of salt in it from the sea, this is affecting the Mango flowers and stopping the pollination process. The farmers have already been affected by the late rains which destroyed all the cashew flowers. Climate change seems to be here already.