Kalu : The Loyal Companion

I first met Kalu when he was a month-old pup. He had the strains of cocker spaniel and German shepherd, and his entire body was black except for his toes and mouth. After watching me for a while, Kalu got up and sat near my feet. My younger sister said, “Kalu does not sit with anyone, how he is lovingly sitting with brother." I noticed that Kalu had all the qualities of becoming a trained dog. The house had several pet dogs, and I felt that Kalu would be neglected. Despite my repeated requests, my sister did not give Kalu to me to raise. After that, whenever I came, Kalu would run to me. I also started bringing biscuits for him. The way he took biscuits from my hand very slowly and carefully showed his character.

By the time he was one year old, Kalu became famous not only in the locality but far and wide. No one could enter the gate without an escort. If someone came by mistake, they had to tolerate his anger. Postmen, vegetable vendors, plumbers, and milkmen were very cautious. The milkman, by compulsion, developed a friendship with Kalu by feeding him milk. For this, he had kept a bowl inside the gate. He would pour some milk in the bowl through the bars of the gate before daring to enter. Kalu was kept chained most of the time, which made him more ferocious.

Three years later, I took voluntary retirement and moved into my own 3-room unit in the backyard of our parental precinct. On the very first night, I woke up suddenly to a knocking sound. I saw Kalu sitting on the sill outside the closed glass window. Dark night, black Kalu – what a terrifying silhouette it made. He

was scratching the glass window to attract attention. This happened for two-three days. Finally, I opened the window and took Kalu inside. He lay down comfortably under my bed. I already had a dog named Kittu, who did not object to Kalu’s presence.

The day their favourite meal was prepared, their happiness and good manners were worth watching. They started giving exactly the same reactions as children do at home when their favourite food is being prepared. They played among themselves in some empty corner of the house and kept quiet when some known visitors came. As the time for dinner approached, their restlessness was visible. After being served, they ate the food from their bowl only, without fighting.

Kalu was ruthless with outsiders but very friendly with family and staff members living inside the precinct. He never forgot the timing and the sound of the milkman and his bowl of milk. Whenever I was moving inside the courtyard, he would escort me. He would recognize the sound of my vehicle from a distance of 500 meters.

He had learned two very useful commands. The first was “Go home”. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, he would silently come to his place inside the house. How many times did Kalu have to leave a winning innings and return? The second

command was “Stay”. Whether he was playing, fighting, or trying to pick up a piece of bone, as soon as I said something, he would calm down and start looking at me. He wouldn’t touch the bowl of milk if the command of “Stay” was given.

Once, a big fish bone got stuck in his neck. In great pain, he came to me with his mouth open. I looked inside his mouth and saw that the fish bone was visible but very much inside the neck. With the flash of lightning, I made two finger scissors and removed the thorn stuck in his neck. More than I could praise myself, Kalu started jumping up and down and tried to kiss my mouth.

At the onset of winter, a Kashmiri shawl vendor came to sell clothes. I bought a shawl, and the vendor extended his hand to shake hands with me after the deal. Kalu’s teeth reached his hand first. Perhaps Kalu felt that the unknown Kashmiri had moved towards me with some wrong intention.

On the contrary, once my 3-year-old granddaughter was playfully jumping on my bed. She finally jumped off the bed. Tired of the sound of jumping, Kalu came out from under the bed at that moment. My granddaughter’s foot landed on Kalu’s body, and she screamed very loudly. Kalu was badly hurt, but he moved to a safe place without making any sound and started caressing his injury.

Kalu would have been a very good hunter. Rats and house lizards could not escape from him. He would patiently wait for hours at a hideout to watch the movement of rats. He would proudly bring the killed prey and place it near my feet. He used to hunt house lizards very cleverly. He would bark and make the lizard move to the open door. With the blink of an eye, he would push the door hard and make the lizard fall. Our house became rat and lizard free very soon.

He was always ready to play. If he wanted to play ball, he would hold any object in his mouth and bring it near my feet. After that, I would take him to the terrace and play ball for 10-15 minutes. After giving him a bath, if I forgot to tie the collar around his neck, he would bring it and keep it near my foot as if it was his ID.

One day, I was changing the old castor wheels of my computer table. When I extended my hand to put the last roller, it was nowhere to be seen on the floor. I called out to Kalu, whose rattling noise was coming from the other room. He came running. I pointed to the roller already fixed to the table and asked him enquiringly. Kalu immediately about-turned, verbally danced to another room, and came out with the roller in his mouth, placing it near my feet.

After my glaucoma operation, I returned home with a bandaged eye. As soon as I got down from the car, Kalu started escorting me. He sat very close to the bed. My brothers and sisters came to see me. As soon as anyone came too close to me, Kalu would start growling. As long as I had a bandaged eye, Kalu would keep an eye on me and stay next to my bed at night. After this, whenever I returned after staying in the hospital for a few days, Kalu would take care of me in the same way. He would escort me to the toilets, dining table, sitting chair, and the bed.

I went to Australia to be with my daughter for six months. During those days, Kalu stayed with my sister. He could not tolerate neglect at all. Whenever something like this happened, he would quietly go to a nearby park and sit alone, and would come back after much persuasion. It is said that he had reached a state of withdrawal. He had even stopped barking, let alone biting. In my absence, everyone had to take special care of him.

He was already 10 years old. At last, the day came near when he had to go to the next world. In his last days, he preferred to stay outside the house. Whenever I used to sit outside, he would come and sit near me. We buried him under the Ashoka tree near the gate.

PS: Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that dogs often take on the same personality traits as their owner.