When anyone sees a dog with a collar, one perceives it as a happy friendly dog unless its barking or looks agitated.
Snaps of smiling and laughing kids flash through our minds. The dog would be catching a ball or squealing with joy.
Happy dogs, happy kids, happy families....

Cut to the present, even humans are sporting dog collars...Its an id card but the dog collar term just came into fashion.
Even working after more than two years, I am still not completely used to wearing it.
Not because I think of it as a dog collar, but something hanging around my neck hits me again n again when I am walking.
I walk a lil fast, thats why.

Id cards are indespensible these days. Without them, we would have trouble knowing whether someone is an employee or an imposter.
So everyone got one hanging around his/her neck.
My card has two parts, one having my photo and employee id.
The second card is my swipe-in card. Its my access to my workplace.

New things, new situations.
Some funny, some not.
My id card also fits the sequence.
And tries to poke in wherever possible.

Having food in cafe, it tries to have food from my plate.
Sitting in a chair, it tries to jump up and sit on the table.
Washing my hands or face, it tries to have a rain dance.
Walking somewhere, it tries to bruise me like a boxing player.

Some people use a thread-spring mechanism device and hook it to their shirt pockets or belt hoops.
Its kinda cool seeing them stretch it and show it to the swipe-in machine, like a cop showing his badge.
If I flick mine and send it on my back, it makes me feel as if I have a saree pallu.
So unconsciously, I take off my card a lot of times and keep it on my desk or in my shirt pocket.

But alas, twice it happened to me.
Someone comes to my desk to talk and leaves off with my id card.
First time, a colleague took mine.
But mercifully his id was hanging from the key of his drawer.

Second time, a girl came to ask something.
And disappeared with mine. To the cafe for coffee.
Hers hanging around her neck.
And mine in her hand doing all the swiping.

So I am stuck on my floor.
Can't get out unless I call someone to open the doors.
But for that first I have to realize where did it go?
And that alone takes me 10-15 minutes to search all the places I have been in the past hour.

Did I throw it in the bin with my coffee cup?
Did I leave it next to the drinking water cooler?
Did I leave it on someone's desk?
Did I put it in one of my pockets - shirt, trouser?

So now as soon as I am about to enter the office building, out it comes and hugs my neck.
And I get the feeling that I got married to my company.
The wedding varmala replaced by my id card.
Which I have to put around my neck myself.

And as soon as I am out, off it goes.
Read somewhere that some criminals follow and kidnap people who display their id cards outside.
Makes them easy targets as they can be identified as IT professionals.
Suits me, I don't like to advertise where I work, to strangers.

Many like to play with their cards.
They turn the card upside down, if it was a bad photo day.
You know, head tiled, hair all over the place, sleepy eyes.
Some even turn the card to display the backside only.

And some scream in frustation.
Did we domesticate dogs or did we domesticate ourselves?