And so it begins with some barking.

I doubt if I would be bothering with any of this if it wasn't for the mild faith I have in the Right To Information act.

I live in Pune. 4 days ago I was woken at 2am by the loudest turf war the stray dogs in our locality have had so far (and they've been at it for months). The noise continued loudly & randomly till 5pm.

For weeks I've tried to ignore the large gangs of barking dogs at night with the result that I'm almost always sleep deprived, grumpy & lack concentration. My health & work have been on a steady downward slide ever since the Indian Supreme Court stayed the elimination of stray dogs by local Municipal Corporations.

Here's how I see it.
1. I pay my taxes.
2. My tax bracket is directly proportional to the amount of my income.
3. If I'm unable to earn what I normally do because I'm constantly sick from sleep deprivation, I pay fewer taxes. There are millions like me being kept awake by stray barking dogs and that's most certainly affecting the nation's productivity & financial resources and short changing the entire country.
4. Your money & my money is what is keeping us safe from hostile occupations, famine and epidemics.

I deserve a peaceful night's sleep and I refuse to piss away what I earn from hard work on a bunch of stray dogs just because some misguided dog-lover bent the will of the Supreme Court.

I'm not sure how I'm going to rectify this situation but I ain't turning back now. Read on to keep track of what I do.