This story made it to Wigleaf’s Top 50 list of 2012. Aimee Bender, Stuart Dybek, and Sara Lippmann were some of the other writers who had stories on the list.
In my childhood, if one behaved badly, one could be sent to Agra or Bareilly, where the only two mental asylums in India were supposed to be. To me, these were not cities but mental hospitals where helpless, gagged bodies were given electric shocks to make them writhe and ache as a punishment for acting insane.
I wanted Bhuri the bitch sent to Agra or Bareilly. She always barked at me and ran after me as I brought back bread from the market. Even after my parents bought me a bicycle and I was not as vulnerable as on foot, she would be after me. I reported this to my father, who told me that dogs don't understand the circular movement of feet, so I would do better to keep pedaling whenever she ran after my bicycle.
The next day I went to the market to buy curd and Bhuri followed me and I rode faster and faster, so fast that eventually my right foot slipped over the pedal and I fell and hurt myself. While on the ground and rubbing my chafed ankle, I was afraid she would bite me. But Bhuri just stood there: stunned, wagging her tail, not knowing what to do next. Angry from the pain, I shouted, "Go to Agra, you bitch."
As I grew up they put a Taj Mahal in Agra, and the whole world came to see it and took pictures of it. An actress from Bareilly made it to Bollywood. And the two places became cities after all.
Years later, in my hostel room in college, I watched 'One Flew over a Cuckoo's Nest' and was shocked by McMurphy's prank after his electric experience. I didn't like his flippancy. I wanted him to be shattered. I came to know that there were numerous mental asylums in India, not just Agra and Bareilly, and I felt sad for the two cities. Also, Bhuri the bitch died out of old age, after having survived on the leftovers of the twenty families in our neighborhood for an incredible fifteen years, and having had sex with many dogs every season.
The image of the dog is from Wikipedia.