"Heyyy!! Its the Biscuit-valli didi!!!!"

My first salary came on 30 June, 2006. It was supposed to be credited to my account on the last Friday of every month. And when I punched in my PIN at the ATM machine on Saturday morning, sure as ever, there it was! Numbers in place of Aryabhattas contribution. I never thought I'd love the ancient Arab traders so much for spreading the number system around!
I felt nervous as I pressed 'Withdraw'. A blank screen appeared, that very politely said, "Please key in amount."
I punched in 1-0-0. Suddenly, the ATM machine came to life. Funny sounds started coming from within it. And then... 'pfft'... half of a brand new hundred rupee note stuck itself out of a slot below the screen. Looked like the machine was sticking its tongue out in jest.
I pulled out the note and gazed at it. Angels began to sing. And the crisp, green-grey note shone in my fingers.

"Ma'am, may I come in please, only have to put in a cheque..."

"... uh.... huh?"
I let the chap in and then proceeded to draw out a bit more cash for the month.

When I left the ATM booth, I only wanted to celebrate. I was consumed by the thought. I had to celebrate my first salary... anyhow. I called up a few friends and mooted the idea.
"Abbe saade-nau baje koi phone karta hai kya?? So ja!!"
"Aaj nahi yaar, meri girlfriend ke saath shopping ko jana hai."
"Salary me kya badi baat hai? Tu Pune gayi nahi kya abhi tak?"
"Haan jaenge haan, shaam ko dekhte hain."
"Kal batati toh kuch ho sakta tha..."

Yeesh! Everyone has a life and I have a salary! So now what?

I trudged back into Greenfields Society. Thats where I was was staying, in a small flat with two other girls. Both had gone off in the morning to their parent's. I had to go visit my aunt today. But I wanted to celebrate first! And nobody was free. What drab luck!

I went into the garden of the society and flopped on a park bench. I looked at my wallet. A corner of the hundred rupee note was sticking out a bit. I pulled out the note, held it up and sighed.
Just then, I saw a heap of beige fur behind the note. A dog. Dirty old mongrel, actually, and it was staring at me with, brown eyes. I looked back at it.
"What you want?" I asked. It just kept looking. "Go home, man. Dun bother me."
It just kept looking. "Arre jaa na yaar!". But it still kept looking.
"Did anybody ever tell you you're wierd?" It kept looking. I sighed.
"Alright, atleast you're better than the others. You dun have a girlfriend to take out shopping." It looked intently. Probably it found me amusing. I mean, I'm sure a talking human is funny. For street dogs, talking humans are a rare sight.

"Do you want to eat something?" It kept looking. Damn! Was I looking so funny??
"You look hungry.... Chal!" I said, finally, "Chal, we'll buy you some bicuits."
I got up and started walking towards a general store in the society. The dog followed obediently.

I bought a packet of Sunfeast glucose biscuits (cause it was a big one for four rupees) and tore it open. The dog's big brown eyes widened. Then it got restless and started wagging its tail so hard, I could only see a whir of beige.
"Ok dude! So you're hungry! Here you go." I put a few biscuits in front of it. It barked and gobbled them up. And then it looked back up at me and barked again.
"What? You want more?" It started barking and jumping all around me in excitement.

A few other dogs lying in the corners of the building woke up. And before I knew it, I had about seven or eight dogs jumping all around me woofing away to glory!

"So everybodys hungry!" I couldn't possibly put biscuits down before a pack of jumping mongrels. So I took out a biscuit and I flipped it up into the air. And woah... suddenly... a pair of flapping ears and a nose jumped up after the biscuit and caught it!
"Wo.. oh.. oh.. ho!" I cried. "Ok! If that's your order...". I flipped another one. And it was caught too!
A flock of children saw some springing dogs around a girl with a packet of biscuits and came running to see the show!

My packet of biscuits was over by then, but the dogs weren't tired. And I was enjoying myself.
I went to the general store again and slapped the hundred rupee note on the counter.
"Sunfeast." I said.
"Kitna mai-dum?"
"Dus." The store keeper had seen me feeding the dogs. He smiled and put 10 packets onto the counter along with some change.

And children squealed in delight as more dogs started springing up and down catching flying biscuits, all around a girl with packet of biscuits!

Half an hour passed before the dogs and children tired themselves out. And by then, I'd already bought 22 packets of Sunfeast!

"Will you make the dogs dance tomorrow too?" a little thing asked me.
"Uh.... ".
"Haan biscuit-valli didi, will you make the dogs dance tomorrow also?"
"Uh...". Wow, either these children were starved for entertainment or I had established myself as a regular circus clown!

"Haan..." I smiled, "Ok."
The children ran off to play, screaming and laughing. The dogs came around me and settled down. Some of them yawned and stretched.

The dog with the big, brown eyes nosed at my foot and wagged its tail. I patted its head.
"Thanks for the party, dude." I said to it.

It settled down at my feet and fell asleep.