If you don’t believe me, ask Mule Wasihun. He’s the Ethiopian athlete who came to run for fame and glory in the TCS World 10K in Bengaluru earlier this week. Little did he know he’d be running for his life. Thanks to Moti, the stray dog.

Actually, I’m not even sure if this interloping canine even has a name but Moti is as good as any. This wandering dog snuck into the route of the runners and gave Wasihun the shock of his life. His desperate attempts to evade Moti were captured for posterity by photographers and these made it to the front pages of many newspapers the next morning. What’s more important, and worse, he lost precious time in his shot at the gold medal.

“We had seen hyenas during our training runs through the forest but not dogs,” an Ethiopian official said.

So, if this happens in a controlled race route, what can the rest of the city expect? If this doesn’t mean that Bengaluru is going to the dogs, what does?

Is it the heaps of garbage piling up steadily on many street corners? Some are burning brightly, some have wisps of smoke curling out of the charred mess — a fallout of neighbourhood residents fed up with the civic agency’s lethargy in clearing the mess? That they too are part of the problem often escapes them.

Is it the woeful shortage of water that forces people to pay large sums of money to tankerwallahs who are sucking up water from the ground and rapidly depleting the precious ground water table?

Is it the power outage that bedevils Bengalureans with shocking regularity? Virtually every home has some power back-up or the other, as people make sure they have enough juice to keep their phones charged and laptops topped up, just in case the power cuts are longer than the norm.

Is it the gridlocked road that makes commuting a challenge and tiresome drudgery? With lakhs of vehicles clogging the roads, motorists are at their wits’ end, dreaming of either working at home or retiring to the hills.

Is it the pollution that makes many vulnerable people reach for masks every time they step out of their homes? Those with worsening pulmonary problems have it particularly bad, with some even seriously thinking of relocating to cities with cleaner air.

Is it the random, brutal crime that rattles people in their cocooned, gated apartments? The economic divide is slowly widening and there’s increasing discontent at the unfairness of it all. ‘Life’s not fair, deal with it’ doesn’t cut much ice with those with high aspirations but low incomes.

For the record, Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia retained his hold on the men’s event and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya the women’s event. That’s how much Bengaluru has gone to the dogs that athletics victors are reduced to a footnote and Moti is the talk of the town.

I think Bengaluru is dying. Do you? Have your say in the comments section below.