“We are all one big happy family. It’s only the walls of the houses that separate us. Other than that, we are one”, says Vineet Abhang, a middle aged man, as he is flanked by Avinash Tambe and Avanindra Oturkar. The trio are lovingly called the “Amar, Akbar and Anthony” of the BMC Colony Chawl number 6. They are, however, better-known for their love of dogs and humane behaviour towards animals. “When we were kids, we were playing and came across two puppies” says Avinash. “At that time, there used to be a TV show being broadcast regularly, called ‘Laurel & Hardy’. So, we decided to name these two puppies similarly.
We lost Laurel when the BMC took him away and left him somewhere else. We tried to find him, but failed. Hardy is still here and we have grown up together.” Hardy is a fully grown stray dog, but a word of advice; don’t call Hardy a dog amidst these people, they get offended. “He is a member of our family. He is as much human to us as a brother.”
Hardy is known to come for dinner on time every day at approximately 8 p.m. and wait calmly for his meal. A reminder would be a gentle “woof” or a knock on the plastic door with his paws. “We all feel the gentleman in him.” A dog well-looked after, he now recognizes days on which non-vegetarian food would be made in which house. It’s fascinating how, he would avoid Avinash’s house on a Tuesday, but turn up the very next day. Since then, another two puppies were found without their mother, this time by the next generation of children in the chawl. “I am glad that our love for animals has been picked up by the children. They tend to save money and sometimes buy the dogs the commercial brand dog foods like Pedigree. We never asked them to do that. They willingly save two and three rupees which they get as change from the shopkeepers and instead of buying candy for themselves, they save enough to buy good food for the dogs” says Aravindra.
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| [LtoR: Vineet Abhang, Moti(looking away), Hardy, Avanindra Oturkar, Avinash Tambe , flanked by the younger animal enthusiasts of BMC Chawl 6] |
Seeing this charitable nature of the kids, the elders made a small dog house for the puppies and kept them there till they were strong enough to look after themselves. “Our fathers also loved of dogs. They have been friends even before the three of us were born. They named the dogs ‘Julie’,’Isha’,’Chandani’ ; ‘Chandani’ was a beautiful white dog. I was the only one from us who got to see her” continues Avinash. ‘Sheru’ and ‘Moti’ on a daily basis have started following people from this chawl right up to the entrance when they go for work or even a walk at night. The people suspect that there was an attempted robbery, but it was foiled due to these four-legged vigilantes. “The dogs here are seen to bark at strangers. We know that for sure because once my friend was coming home with me at night; Hardy and Sheru started barking at him but stopped as soon as they saw me. There was one night when something similar happened, only thing different was that they didn’t stop till we came out. I think they were barking at robbers. *Touches a tree* We haven’t had a robbery in this chawl for the past thirty years” said Vineet.
The dogs here have become a permanent part of the lives of people in Chawl 6. A day without these members of the family is incomplete and unsatisfactory.
“Their life is as precious to me as mine. I know a day will come when they will pass away. I fear that day.”
- Omkar Khopkar - WSD intern went to Avanindra Oturkar &Avinash Tambe's neighbourhood and penned Hardy's story.“Their life is as precious to me as mine. I know a day will come when they will pass away. I fear that day.”
