Spotty

An abandoned pup in Chennai got a happy-ever-after home with Sashi Nair's family. In Sashi's words:

After Nancy passed away a few years ago, there was a vacuum we felt at home and for long we did nothing to fill it. She was a dachshund but was at home exchanging pleasantries with Brownie and other dogs in our colony every time I took her out for a walk. I had by then (after she died) got hooked on to adopting an Indian dog or a mongrel and decided to wait a while.

One Sunday I saw an advertisement in The Hindu classifieds. It talked about a mongrel pup available for adoption. I immediately called and on the other side was this grandmother with almost flawless diction, urging me gently to take the last pup home. I then spoke to her son who was more than happy to let go of the pup. Two days later my daughter and I drove down to their home near Loyola College and soon we found in our hands Scotchy (she was already named) and her playthings.

Scotchy came home and slept peacefully. She was such a beautiful pup that several times strangers would walk up to me to ask what breed she was. To cut a long story short, Scotchy did not stay with us for long. One day when there was rain and thunder and lightning, she just disappeared. The front door must have been open, but she was missing and all attempts to locate her proved futile. Even today, when I think of her a lump forms in my throat and I wonder where she might be. Could she have been taken away by someone who had fallen for her charms? Perhaps I'll never know.

Thereafter there was not much conversation about dogs and pups at home. Until Vidya Reddy who runs an NGO called Tulir - Centre for Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse, called me one day to say there was an abandoned pup on the road she had found - he looked like a Dalmatian-cross she said, and asked if I'd take him. On the spur of the moment, I said yes. The following day, Vidya brought the pup to the neighbourhood vet, one she knew. And that was where I first met Spotty. He was fast asleep and hardly woke up as I took him away in the car.

Spotty in some ways reminded me of Scotchy - the relentless wagging of tail, the hyperactivity, and the seemingly endless appetite for food. Today, Spotty has his various favourite spots. He basks outside in the sunshine in the morning, rests outside our front door towards noon and has his siesta in the garage after lunch. For company he has good old Brownie and another absolutely charming female I just haven't been able to name. Maybe I will soon. These two are inseparable and some day I must take pictures of both of them playing and frolicking like there was no tomorrow.

Text and photos: Sashi Nair
Chennai