Meet Myra

Dogs have always been a passionate dinner topic for me with family and friends. When I met my husband I knew he was the man on hearing his love for our four-legged friends. The first five years of our courtship we craved a pet but considering our lifestyle at that point (he a sailor and I a hotelier from another state settling into the Mumbai way of life), it was impossible to do justice to a pet. We waited.

We married and sailed the seven seas for a few years. On one of our jaunts we a saw a stray dog at a port in the Middle East who came running to us like he was there just to receive us. We both looked and knew on our return home what we had to do. We missed having a pet. So we started discussing how we were going to go about the selection. Friends of ours had adopted a couple of kittens from the SPCA. The decision was made to visit the SPCA and look for our pet. But even before we could schedule a visit came a pup from a garden close to our home (in a then upcoming colony). She was a bundle of love caked in red mud .She licked me and approved of us as her adoptive parents.
The kids in our neighbourhood were crazy about the pup. They wanted her down all the time when they were playing in the garden. We used to get calls throughout the day to visit her or bring her downstairs to play.

Myra is a mix-breed, white and black with brown and black patches on both eyes, which are just like her personality – colourful. She is our proudest possession. She is spoilt and has managed to train us to wait on her. We’ve had her for 3 years and more. She tries to emulate her human counterparts, loves girls, is scared of boys who bully but the gentle ones are her darlings. She is the self-appointed watchdog for kids in the garden. Any stranger approaching the kids is unacceptable. Her rule is that no adult is allowed to chase and play with the kids, only kids can play with each other.

She loves to lick babies in the stroller. We always try to focus and prevent this, but somehow she manages to distract us and steal a quick lick! No amount of “no Myra” will do it. Most of the people in our society are Myra converts. Earlier they would find it strange that we brought in a “stray”, but Myra had a plan and today she has conquered many hearts. She is the most unruly, wild child who has brought everyone around to accept her.

Kids come up with their friends and explain their Myraisms. “When Myra barks look around there will be a C-A-T.” “ If you ever see a cat don’t say the hindi word (billi)! She will bark even at that.” Most of the time the kids put their parents fears at rest. And explain at length why they shouldn’t be afraid of her. I am always pleased by their sensibilities.

Lata Bajaj