My Fear of Dogs- Pet vs. Stray (and A Story)

Are you scared of dark? Or maybe you have fear of dogs or other animals or strangers or driving or walking or sleeping?

Dogs scare me! It’s not a normal fear of dogs rather it’s borderline phobia also known as Cynophobia. If I see a dog on the road and I am walking on the same side, I cross the road. These are the perils of living in a free country. Also, I call all tharki men as kutte but today I am talking only about the four legged dogs.

I know that my Fear of Dogs is irrational most of the time but jab bhi mere saamne koi doggie aata hai, my brain tells me to run for my life.

Now this fear has been there since as long as I can remember. The funny thing is ki mera darr thoda biased hai- Pet dogs scare me a lot more than the stray ones. Mera logic ye hai ki stray dogs ki to aadat hai strangers se milte rehne ki but pet dogs are crazies living in a cocoon. Unhe har stranger pe attack karna hota hai maybe because they are scared or maybe they do it for cheap thrills.

Let me tell you a story to make you believe my Fear of Dogs-

When I was about 14 years old, we, as in my whole family of 5 went to stay at a relative’s house. The relatives had a deadly Doberman called Brownie. Ab aap soch rahe honge ki jab kutte se itna darr lagta hai to kyun gayi. I had to go because you can’t say no to middle class Indian parents.

So we reached there house and were greeted with barks. Now, Brownie was tied to a tap with a dysfunctional leash and he got so angry on seeing us that uske andar John Abraham aa gaya. He broke the leash and leapt at me and my sister. My poor sister started running and Mr. Brownie followed her. She got a tour of the house before Brownie was restrained by my uncle.

Then we decided to sit in their guest bedroom- it was me, my sister and my brother who was a toddler then. Abhi hum chain ki saans le hi rahe the ki Brownie bijli ki tarah bed pe aa gira. I couldn’t run because my brother was sitting on my lap but sissy ran for her life and got another tour of the grand house. You know what- we stayed there for 2 nights and 3 days. Tab pata chala ki darr ke saaye mei jeena kya hota hai.

Uss din se I decided ki ye Paltu Kutte khatarnak hote hain. Stray wale don’t generally make you run for your life. But again generalize nahi kar sakte because I have been victim of some fierce street dogs. Luckily abhi tak kisi ne kaata nahi.

I am above 30 now but as soon as I spot a pet dog, my heart starts pumping. Plan to tha ki I will never pass on my fear of dogs and other fears to Idhaya but apne bachche ko us kutte se kaise milwaun jisse mujhe hi darr lagta hai. Maze ki baat ye hai ki meri beti ko birds se bhi darr lagta hai. Usse bhi zyada maze ki baat ye hai ki mujhe bhi birds se darr lagta hai but uske saamne I act brave. Still, she is scared; darr hereditary hota hai kya? Or maybe kids can sense our reality?

Don’t judge me but I call Idhaya doggy when she is acting cute. So, maybe I find doggies cute or perhaps I find Idhaya scary. Kitna ironic hai na! Jo bhi ho, mere iss darr ke aage mujhe abhi tak jeet nahi mili.

Driving is my another fear but uski story kaafi lambi and thodi sad hai compared to my fear of Dogs so kabhi aur sunaungi. Do you also have a silly fear? Batao batao in the comments.