Delhi’s ‘fattest dog’ election is the internet’s silver lining

There was a time, just a few years ago on the calendar and what feels like aeons in the internet’s evolution, when watching videos (and before that, images) of dogs and cats, puppies and kittens, was considered a waste of time. The World Wide Web, after all, was meant for instant communication, research and, for the creative types, a self-indulgent blog nobody asked for. Now, as the internet has transformed from optimistic frontier to an algorithmic nightmare, the puppies are its silver lining. For those in the national capital gearing up for another year of pollution and traffic jams, an online canine election is a source of elation.

On Tuesday, the final ballot to elect the “fattest dog of Delhi” is being cast. Like many a viral phenomenon, the Instagram page that started it all began innocuously enough: A college student took photos of overweight stray dogs and posted them. Soon, it became a community project, with people sending photographs of their favourite portly pooches. The poll, which began with 64 corpulent canines, is down to four hopefuls: Googoo (Saket), Tara Khan (Khan Market), Hero (Malviya Nagar) and Gola (SDA Market in Hauz Khas). Tara and Gola are, unfortunately, contesting for the honour posthumously.

Many a fat dog, like their overweight human counterparts, has health issues. But dogs do not judge, nor are they self-conscious. And an election, while polarising, has no negative campaigning nor divisive rhetoric — a web-based miracle. If only people’s politics could be more like the puppy poll.