the end of a chapter

Sparky Kumaramangalam aka Selwor Star of India (as named by his kennel) was born on a bright, sunny but chilly day in Sydney. He entered the world on May 15th 1994 along with his five siblings. Blue blood ran in their veins and the pedigree puppies were very much in demand. Soon all of them were sent to different parts of the world. Sparky (as named by his future owners) was sent to Madras, India.

Fox terriers are supposed to be temperamental dogs. Sparky proved this to be true. Hyper-sensitive and temperamental, he soon took first place for most dramatic person in the Kumaramangalam household. He was also obnoxious. And very, very clever. But like all dogs in that house, he was loved very much.

Sparky reached his new home after a long flight, cooped up in a cage with his future brother, a boxer-brindle named Strike. His other brother, a beagle named Sport, shared his cage with a dim-witted golden retriever. These three dogs would remain together for the next dozen or so years and live in well, comparative harmony.

Sparky spent his first night next to his human mother, displacing her from her comfortable pillow. He managed to do this despite the fact that he was probably 1/15^th her size. He grew quickly, dominating the slightly dumb but extremely loyal Strike. Sport was a different matter. They were close but the beagle always remained his own master. Sparky shot to fame amongst Madras’ kennel clubs. Driven by some dim-witted humans and his own arrogance, he ruled at the city’s dog shows and soon became a champion. Doe-eyed female fox terriers came to visit him, one by one, and he produced gorgeous pedigree progeny. He was the only one of the three brothers who became a father. That too three times over. And I mean he fathered three litters, not three puppies. Though he outlived them all…

Fox terrier-like royalty apart, Sparky was a first class Madras mutt at times. His hobbies included eating from the bin, fighting with his brothers and trying to eat their food, peeing inside the house if he felt like marking his space… the list is endless. His family nicknamed him the ‘kitchen supervisor’ because he spent most of his time in the kitchen. It was only once his brothers died that he began dogging his owners’ heels.

Sparky was almost entirely black, with a white under-belly and white legs. Little patches of tan were scattered across his sharp nose and front legs. He never grew any white hair, though the patches went white. His eyes clouded over with cataract and his back legs finally grew stiff in his last few months, but he was always extremely healthy and active.

His brothers left him within a span of four weeks. Sport developed epilepsy and passed away exactly 12 years after the three first entered the Kumaramangalam home as boisterous pups. Strike died four weeks later due to an internal growth. Sparky (and his owners of course) was devastated. The once sharp, independent and domineering terrier seemed lost. The sharpness remained though and the family did not know if he would accept a puppy or try to kill it. They got a pup finally… to cheer him and themselves up. The blonde, brown-eyed Labrador called Tammy arrived about a month after Strike’s heart stop beating less than two feet away from where Sparky was lying.

Sparky’s life changed entirely after that. He now had a reason to do many things with renewed vigour. The Labrador was tiny when she first came, and initially kept away from the terrier. But they soon became thick friends. She grew bigger than him but he was always the master in that relationship. Not as sharp as the terrier, she was often torn between obeying her human masters and obeying Sparky. They would play till he grew tired (he was 12 and half years old after all) after which he would sleep blissfully. His masters never knew if he missed his brothers.

Though he was happy, age crept up on him. His senses of smell, hearing and sight soon began to fade, though he remained as intelligent as ever. Tammy realised this and became quite protective of him. His life revolved around his meals, short walks and eating from the bin. When he was 14, the family moved house, leaving behind the place they had lived in for 25 years. Though Sparky adjusted, his human mother would always wonder if she had made the wrong decision in moving him when he was so old. He became even more obnoxious, though. Peeing more often inside the house, climbing onto all the furniture and rubbing his dirty mug on it… the list of course, was endless.

Old age and and health finally snatched him away from the Kumaramangalams. The last of the S trio to leave, his departure left the family sighing at the end of a very long and very happy chapter in their lives. And it left Tammy very, very lonely. Sparky was 14 and a half years old when he died on January 4^th, 2009. He will be remembered always… for his temperament and many, many others things. And he will be missed.

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My dogs have always been a part of my family. I wanted to write something more creative for Sparky but the melancholy which hit after his death seems to have dimmed my imagination. I wanted to write a happy poem for him but could not put 14 years of memories into a few couplets. I hope his last few days were not too painful for him. And I hope the S trio are galloping across some Elysian fields, together again, young again. I miss them. Everyday.