Kaalu, Our Pet and my friend

One day my grandfather got a call on his telephone. In those days there was no mobile telephony. I was then barely ten or twelve years of age. The caller was a friend of his. After hanging up after the call, my grandfather told me that a surprise was awaiting me. Then he took me to his friend's house that was close by. There he presented me with a small pup probably few weeks of age as he told me. The pup had been presented to him by someone but as my grandfather's friend was old and could not take the responsibility of looking after him so he thought of gifting it to me. We had never looked after any pet before and were not averse to raising one either so we gladly took it. 

We soon brought it home. My four year younger sister Minu and myself Rony were over with joy with this surprise possession. It was Labrador breed or German retriever or a mix between, deep brown in color and a male. My father had a veterinary doctor friend who was given a call to come and have a look up. The doctor gave a thorough check up and drew up a regimen of time to time vaccination and set up a diet chart. We all followed it meticulously. Within a few days of homecoming, the little pup was full of energy and charged up like a battery filled toy. Minu and myself were fully busy with it much to the consternation of our mother because our studies were being hampered. 

Unable to find a suitable name at first, my grandma called him Kaalu and he responded. So Kaalu name stuck with him. The family was fully charged up with in the first few days of Kaalu's homecoming. He kept everyone on their toes literally. Only my mother seemed a bit concerned with his presence, not really trusting him as a value addition in the family or of nuisance value. But Kaalu was very precocious and to my amazement was intelligent beyond compare. I sincerely believed he was super intelligent. How he proved himself right and removed whatever doubt my mom was harboring about him. Kaalu would tidy his bed to the best of his abilities and as far as his paws would allow. In a few days, he learnt to answer all his nature calls in our toilet. Someone had to go and pour water over it to get a super clean look. Most surprising no one told him so, only my Dad just ordered him once to follow us all when the urge comes. Whatever, may be the result, Kaalu had won over my mom who remained his most ardent supporter as long he was with us.

There are countless more tales about Kaalu. I felt very lucky to have a close association with him. Kaalu had moved on from being my pet to my best friend. He had a super instinct of sense of smell With this power he had helped us many a time. Once there was a fire in an old building nearby and Kaalu helped rescue many people trapped inside. The fire department awarded him separately and eulogised him at a function dedicated to him only.

Once he detected cooking gas leak in our kitchen and helped us from a grave disaster. Kaalu was a regular companion to my grandfather in his morning evening walks. Once while crossing the road my grandfather tripped over his walking stick and fell down. Kaalu, guarded grandfather from the on rushing traffic and kept barking so intensely that everyone had to stay put and wait till my grandfather get back on his feet.

The most memorable event where Kaalu played a stellar role was when my sister Minu was getting married. There were lot of costly gift items in the house including gold and jewellery. So the question of security arose. Noone had really had given a thought on the security angle. When the marriage date arrived, our house was full of relatives and guests. On the night before marriage, our house had unwelcome guests in the form of thieves and burglars. Kaalu helped detect the imposters. There were many of them. Some ran way and the remaining got caught. Police was called and the criminals were handed over. All was possible due to Kaalu. But unfortunately, the criminals had done irreplaceable damage to Kaalu. They had tried to sedate him by holding a hanky over his mouth covered with some chemicals. But Kaalu couldn't be cowed down so easily. He made himself free from their clutches and made counter attack over them and helped them getting identified and finally caught.

The sedatives they had held over his nose had damaged his strong sense of smell. Kaalu remained disabled of his super sniffing quality for the remainder of his life. My sister got married and I also left home for my higher studies. Kaalu had now become companionless.

It was now almost eight years that Kaalu was with us. Then one day when I had returned home on vacation and my sister had come visiting us for few days. We were idly gossiping aimlessly when Kaalu strolled by and came snuggling towards me and put his head over my lap. Then all of a sudden, he became motionless. He had died peacefully with his head on my lap. Doctor was called and after examining he said that Kaalu had died of a stroke. 

A pall of gloom descended on our household. I extended my leave. My sister stayed back few more days. We were terribly grief stricken. Kaalu had made an immense change in our lifestyle due to his unique personality which had now left a vacuum. 

A few days after Kaalu left us when we all were sitting and reminiscing about him when we found a small puppy stroll inside our house and sit down as if to partake in our conversation. It seemed like Kaalu had returned or had sent a messenger.