Eternal Sunshine

Even as a child, Shraddha loved dogs. There were pictures of her at two years of age, touching a big boy doggie at one their family’s annual holidays. They weren’t allowed pets at home. Shraddha and Bhakti’s mother hated animals. Naturally, they weren’t allowed pets. The closest they came to having pets was when a stray cat gave birth to a litter in the portico’s sunshade, and then vanished. There were two kittens from the litter when Bhakti discovered them and the two sisters tried nursing them to health. Being very young and inexperienced, there wasn’t much the two could do to help the weak kitten and poor Tommy dies within two days. Gracie, however recuperated and soon became a regular fixture between the portico and garage. The sisters dare not take her inside the house. Bhakti loved the little grey kitten to bits. Unfortunately, this affair was very short-lived because one afternoon, when the girls came back from school, they found Gracie dead. She had been mauled by an older cat and didn’t survive the fight. Bhakti never wanted a pet ever again. But this isn’t about her, or cats. This is Shraddha’s story.

Shraddha was less than 5 years old when this happened and the incident didn’t have a lasting impression on her. Nothing could keep her away from the dogs, not even her screaming, crazy mother. As Shraddha grew older, she began feeding little puppies on the street. First, she nursed little Caesar from a scrawny baby to a plump beige ball of fur. But he disappeared into thin air one day. Shraddha cried for days, walking out on to the street, screaming his name. But no Caesar!! Then came that little black and brown puppy girl. This time Shraddha decided not to get too attached, so she called her puppyma. She grew up on curd rice that Shraddha stealthily brought for her from home. Somewhere in between her childhood and her college days, Shraddha had managed to feed a number of puppies and street dogs. Looking back, she seemed to have photos with many a happy puppies on various streets. She kept telling herself that when she finally became an independent, earning adult, she would get herself a pet dog. She dreamed of Huskies and St. Bernards. But the day never came. Shraddha completed her studies, dated people and eventually got married. Every man in her life was influenced into stopping at the sight of street puppies. They just had to be fed, you see.

Work kept Shraddha travelling round the clock and she never found the time to have a pet. Shoojit, her husband, too, had long hours and couldn’t imagine taking on the responsibility of a pet. But he had become a dog lover too and together they would find all the lonely puppies in the world to feed and care for, outside their house. They even tried their hands at keeping fish. It would be easy, they thought. Not only was it a lot of work, cleaning the bowl, but the aggressive gourami head butted his friend to death, and then died of loneliness.

 And then, the baby happened. Baby Naman was the only thing the couple had time for. For over 4 years, most thoughts of puppies had been driven out of their mind. Naman, however, seemed like he was Shraddha’s destiny child. Even as a tot, he cooed at the neighbour’s pets, ran with open arms towards street dogs, and played with abandon with any dog that he could find. This meant that feeding strays made its way back into Shraddha’s life. Now Naman was growing and he wanted a puppy. Grandma ‘Kadoos’ warned the family that they shouldn’t give in to his demands. Pets were trouble, she said. But little Naman wagged his tiny finger at grandma and said, “If you donk love doggies, I donk love you!” So the family of three began talking about the idea of having a pet. But they kept putting it off because both Shoojit and Shraddha agreed that they were already paying for Namn’s daycare and they would only end up having a very lonely and sad dog, if they got one.

Life is unpredictable, though, and Shraddha simply hung up her corporate suit one day. “I’m done”, she announced. “I’ll bake and sell homemade cakes and breads”. So, they worked on that plan and Shraddha began her home-baking venture. This left her with a lot of time on her hands and that is when the couple finally decided to give in to Naman’s demands for a puppy. By now, Shraddha had grown up enough to realise that she didn’t want fancy breeds. She had seen and heard enough about how buying expensive breeds lead to backyard breeders and illegal breeding of animals. Her heart wept to see so many dogs being abandoned because of deformities and health issues. She firmly put her foot down when Shoojit suggested buying even a Labrador.

“Let’s adopt and Indian puppy from a shelter”, she suggested. She didn’t need to convince her family at all. They immediately agreed. A month before Naman’s 7^th birthday, they all went to a shelter that housed rescued dogs. They were greeted with barks and howls and many happy paws. They looked at all the faces, and Shraddha felt like she wanted to take them all home and love them. But then something caught her eye. One tiny black pupper was sitting under the tree, looking forlorn. “That’s the one”, she said, pointing at it.

“That’s Leo”, our youngest, said the farm caretaker. “He’s ours now”, piped in Shoojit.

They picked him up gingerly and put him in a cardboard box that they brought. The puppy looked scared and confused. Little Naman put his palm on the puppy’s back and told it that it had a new family now. “Mummy, I want to call him Sirius Black”, said Naman. Shraddha beamed. She loved Harry Potter and she was happy her son was following suit.

So, that is the story of how a little black button called Sirius Black became the eternal sunshine in a house that welcomed him, loved him, and doted on him with everything they had. Shraddha could not have been happier. Her family was finally complete. But she realised that she was juvenile to have ever thought that one day she could have a pet. Sirius was no pet. He was their sunshine and their baby. He was the soul of their house. He was family!!!