It makes for a paranoid and nerve-wracking experience to take early morning walks or even walking in general, for that matter,

How sometimes, stray dogs suddenly get agitated and start chasing or pouncing on us, especially post-pandemic, they've gotten out of control,

Twice in a span of 2-3 months (and even prior, occasionally), I underwent this experience, what's worse is that this is a route I've been taking for years, and suddenly, sometimes some of these dogs get agitated,

I get the conventional wisdom, I truly do - don't freak out or panic and stay still or calm and don't flinch and run away as that enables their aggressive and predatorial instincts further,

Except it's easier said than done, and honestly, it's not like they're exactly predictable anyway,

Today morning, I was doing an early morning (5:30 or so) walk to the local mosque, there's a corporation and waste management office not far off, the sanitation personnel usually report for duty during this time of the day or they have a break and be having some morning tea,

This also means they befriend the local dogs around that area, and these dogs seem to be attached to them,

As I was walking, one of the dogs started aggressively approaching me, I initially raised my voice and shushed it, but it kept coming at me, that made me flinch and run back a few metres,

The officials there tried to tame/control it, then said "onnum panadhunga pa/sir, bayapudaadenga, neega bayndu odna dhaan thoondiuvidreenga adha",

I kinda snapped and lashed out, as this wasn't the first time these dogs behaved aggressively with me here. Told them rudely (not proud of my behavior) if they'll bear rabies vaccine or any hospital expenses or take care of me if a dog does manage to bite or get close enough to me,

They seemed a bit hurt and upset. Honestly, it wasn't my intent, these folks are hard-workers and toil relentlessly, but I was at a "heightened" emotional state so to speak (I did apologize to one of them, once I calmed down),

Anyways, I am making this rant here, as it's this "normalization", the "chalta hai/poitu podhu" attitude our folks seem to have reg. civic issues and grievances.

We can't realistically expect people to act super rational and level-headed when a dog does get aggressive with them - already they'll be having a lot in their mind and will be trying to get by,

I honestly wish the government takes some initiative to curb stray dog menace in our city (and India overall, really). Last year, around this time or so, there were heated debates and controversies after some stray mauled a kid? Post-pandemic, this menace and their population has gotten out of control.

Hi everyone, just wanted to share a volunteering experience which i really liked. its an organisation called instilt educate which is an international non profit organisation that teaches students english for free online. i had the chance to teach a school in kanyakumari and i really enjoyed my experience. kids were very sweet and open to learning. you can also get letters of recommendation, volunteer hours ellam if you join. please check it out if you are interested here

So I’m a Punjabi who’s here for few days. I’d love your recommendations for some good food spots (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian).
Also, are there any nice places I can explore over the weekend?