Tolly Club dogs: Frowners a.k.a. Fudge

More on the privileged dogs at Tollygunge Club, Kolkata. This is Frowners, who was given this name by our friend Pupul because of his frown lines (see Nikhil Rawal's picture of him in the previous post). He was later given the name Fudge.

These pictures were taken by my husband Kiran a couple of months ago.

As in many clubs in India, there was some dispute among members here as to whether or not the resident dogs should be allowed to remain. Luckily these dogs have quite a number of fans, so they continue to grace the august institution as before!

Canid lovers will be interested to know that Tolly Club is also host to a pack of jackals.

Photos: Kiran Khalap
Kolkata

Tolly Club dogs

Somewhat like Bustopher Jones (T S Eliot's Cat about Town who had "eight or nine clubs"), these privileged canines live at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata, with a beautiful golf course to roam in and lots of nice things to eat!

These lovely pictures were taken by hobby photographer and dog lover Nikhil Rawal. Nikhil, his wife Nina and young daughter Teesta are all great dog lovers and Teesta in particular has many furry friends on her street. The family own an elegant acrobatic feline named Kittu.

The INDog with the torn ear flap is I believe called Fudge - my husband Kiran made his acquaintance recently (more on that in another post).

Thanks for the images Nikhil!

Photos: Nikhil Rawal
Kolkata

A shelter for orphans and dogs

I visited this shelter outside Kolkata on 27 December 2008. It's called Nikhil Bongo Kalyan Samiti and it's very near Thakurpukur.

The concept of a home for abandoned dogs and abandoned children shows a universal humanitarianism which I think is very rare. What better way to teach these betrayed little humans about trust and loyalty than to have them grow up with dogs? I'm sure the kids and dogs benefit a lot from each other's company.

The shelter also includes a pet cemetery: you can see some of the covered gravestones in the background in the photo above. My sister's dog is buried there and that was the reason for my visit. It's hard to remain unmoved by the messages on the gravestones. Particularly by the grave of a four-month old puppy called Zinca. He seems to have been killed while trying to protect his owner from someone - burglars perhaps.

The dog in the photos is an elderly female called Teli. This amiable creature apparently sleeps most of the time but always gets up to greet visitors and then again to see them off when they are leaving. The perfect hostess.

Kolkata