Heinz Schenk | A Delhi 'kanniedood' street dog named desire ... for a SIM card

It started out as a light-hearted source of amusement, but, unwittingly, a persevering Delhi street dog chasing our taxi became a metaphor for our struggles to find a SIM card in India, writes Heinz Schenk.

Lucknow - The rather unimaginatively named Road No 201 in Dwarka, an apartment-heavy suburb of Delhi, has found a small window of serenity.

It's actually a bit of an eerie feeling because you don't find a lot of tranquillity in India, which essentially never sleeps.

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Dutifully, our taxi driver from the airport stops at a red light, which - frankly - in hindsight is also a bit of a novelty once you've traversed the Indian capital's main routes with a succession of Uber drivers.

Sitting next to me my esteemed colleague and friend, Tinus van Staden, who is on duty for our sister publications, Netwerk24 and Rapport, interrupts our recent 13-hour travel-induced silence with a hearty chuckle.

"Look at this! This dog is trying to chomp on our tyre!"

I share his amusement because I grew up with a Labrador namedStoffel, who had an affinity for chasing buses along our house's wall.

One school morning, my dad was about to drop us off when fate conspired in such manner that the gate opened simultaneously with a Johannesburg Metro bus driving past.

Needless to say, Stoffel - at that stage already plagued by arthritis - summoned more than enough verve and speed to be out of that gate in a flash.

My younger sister and I couldn't contain our laughter at how quickly our grandpa pooch flew off the mark.

My dad, understandably, wasn't amused though he couldn't let two primary school pupils run afterStoffeleither.

"He's still running behind us!