Rover's Family

It was a Sunday and we all had a bash the previous night It was Bindu’s fiftieth birthday and it was but natural that we were all in a very happy frame of mind and enjoyed meeting, greeting and eating. The spread was very lavish, the venue picturesque and the company was just too good that we all had one of the best times in our life. Our hosts spared no effort to make the event a very memorable one. There was no dearth of spirits (literal and otherwise) and the hall reverberated with the music of the band. It had been truly a day to remember.

It was no wonder therefore, that Sukrit and I were the only two to meet at our regular addah. Needless to say, Rover was leading the pack, wagging his tail and impatiently waiting for the morning breakfast. Our group of friends had made it a habit of distributing the leftovers collected from nearby eateries to the starved group of stray dogs which gratefully gulped them down.

We had organised the collection and distribution in such a way that two of us took turns to oversee the entire process every day. We also took care to see that the dogs did not cause any nuisance in the neighbourhood. One of our friends was a veterinary doctor and she would periodically have them taken in batches to her clinic, and get them shampooed and vaccinated from time to time. Both the males and females were spayed in order to let them enjoy a longer and healthier life. In fact, no one could say that these were stray. The dogs did not live with us, that was all – for all practical purposes, it could be said that they were all our pets.

There were about a dozen regulars, Rover being the senior most member of the family. Each one of us took a fancy for one or more of these dogs and named them according to our fancy. There was Spotty, Fluffy, Pluto, Angela… but all of them would respond to our whistle which signalled the arrival of their morning treat.

Sukrit and myself were walking up and down the lane wondering how Rakesh was going to bring in the supplies that day. I had brought their feeding bowls and filled up the smaller ones with water. Now all of us were waiting for the grub, Sukrit was a little anxious as to whether we would get the food in time. I suggested that we should wait for about five minutes more and if it was not forthcoming, we could get bread and biscuits from the nearby bakery and feed them on it.

At the sixth minute we saw Rakesh’s car drawing up. He got down, opened the trunk and brought out a large hamper with the leftovers from our party the day before. The three of us then set about serving all our canine friends who licked them up and looked up to us very gratefully. While we undertook our morning walk, the bowls got emptied and by the time we came on our second round, they were all licked clean. They also lapped up the water and stuck out their tongues and wagged their tails.

A similar exercise would be undertaken by the home makers in our group towards 2 p.m. every day. It would more or less coincide with the time children had to be picked up from schools and the same process would be repeated. There was a separate set of bowls for the evening session. This way we ensured that there was no mess and also that the dogs ate from clean bowls which were free from contamination. We would collect the bowls when done, have them cleaned and brought for use the next day.

The breakfast was made up of the food collected from the hotels the previous night, whereas in the afternoon it was the collection of food waste from the homes of the members.

Most of us stayed in the same locality or close by and took care to see that other residents do not object to our feeding these animals. In the beginning, there was a lot of hue and cry and protests quoting the hazards of the stray dogs to all, but in particular to children and the aged. The municipal authorities had been summoned many times for catching them, but as if on cue, not a single dog would be in sight when the dog van arrived. After a few futile attempts when they saw that the dogs were well cared for, the Dog Van stopped coming that side.

Gradually, Rover’s family got accepted in our community, but there was still a lone voice which could be heard off and on against these dogs. Purushottam detested the sight of them and was always seen with a large cane which he would swing when he came out on the road. He always advocated that the dogs could be scared away by citronella spray, vinegar, ground coffee and pepper, but he had not been seen using any of them.

He lived with his docile wife on a terrace flat in a high rise building, Primus, in the same locality and was eagerly awaiting the arrival of his daughter from overseas as her wedding had been fixed. She was engaged to a long time family friend and Purushottam had planned a luxurious wedding.

There was a large hall on the first floor of their building and about thirty single room apartments on the second floor to house the wedding guests. These two floors were very well planned and designed that they had become the second choice for weddings in the vicinity, the first choice of course, being destination weddings, which have become the order of the day. Purushottam had booked the hall and all the rooms and was busy making all preparations for the wedding. Once his daughter arrived, the trio would be busy shopping, packing the gifts and make all other arrangements.

One morning as we were feeding the helpless animals, he came down swinging his cane and shouted at us in an authoritative tone, “My daughter’s wedding is scheduled on the 26th of this month. I will be inviting you all but I want you to ensure that there will be no dog loitering near by on the days of the wedding and other ceremonies. If you don’t, then I will see to it that they will all be taken to the pound,” so saying, he moved away. We said nothing and also planned to do nothing and let things take their course.

Soon Nikki, Purushottam’s daughter accompanied by her mother came down and got into their car. We completed our walk, collected the feeding bowls and went home to get ready and go to work. We soon forgot the morning’s episode and concentrated on our jobs.

That afternoon, as was the routine, our Ladies’ Wing tended to the dogs. When each of them had been fed, Purushottam’s car entered the gate of the multi-storeyed Primus building. Nikki was helping her mother get down and was picking up all their shopping bags. All of a sudden, there was a commotion and two young men descended on them from nowhere and grabbed most of the shopping bags and in particular the smaller bags bearing the name of the Jewellery stores!

They had turned around to make their escape when our Rover and his family pounced on the duo confusing them. With the loud barking, everyone around was alerted and the two of them started running for their lives, carrying with them all the bags. Rover and Fluffy ran behind them, followed by the rest. It did not take Rover much time to catch up with the thief. Rover bit the leg of one of them, that he dropped the bags and tried to flee. Fluffy was after the other guy and with some effort managed to pin him down. Angela was the next to make her appearance and firmly put her paw on the bags daring anyone to snatch them away. All the other members of the canine family encircled the thieves, giving them no scope to get away.

Nikki came running to retrieve the bags. Hearing the commotion, Purushottam too reached the scene and was surprised to see a whole pack of dogs keeping guard lest the two men should get away. Nikki screamed out to her father, “those are my shopping bags, Papa. My jewellery, dresses are all there!” The police was called, the thieves handed over and the bags taken away from them. 

The next morning when we were feeding our “pets”, Purushottam walked past, but this time he did not have his cane to swing. I almost thought I caught him smiling at Rover and clan. As we finished our regular duty, Purushottam came to us and first apologised for not visiting our houses to extend the invitation for his daughter’s wedding. He then handed over the invitations and left.

There were only two days left for the wedding. We had not paid any heed to Purushottam’s warning about keeping our dogs away. Now we thought that we had better think about it. We had sighted a secluded corner of the basement and decided that it would be the ideal location to keep them safe. We planned to arrange their shifting during the evening or next morning so that they would not come in anyone’s way.

Not all of us could meet in the evening and so we postponed Operation Rescue to the next morning during breakfast. When our group members came to our addah, we were in for the greatest surprise we could ever imagine!

There were Purushottam and Nikki, with golden leash and collars in their hands. Dutifully all our friends stepped in line and proudly stuck out their necks for the leash to be tied around them and the collars put on the necks. “Brave hearts of Primus” was inscribed on the collars. After the morning breakfast served by us, they were treated to the wedding feast for lunch.

After the wedding festivities were over, it was Purushottam who took the lead in looking after Rover’s family which Primus has since adopted.