Unleashed

I got into the car with zero expectations. I knew the way my parents would react, they would never agree to this, at least my father would not. We stopped in front of a house with a huge gate at the entrance. There he was on a green rug looking all innocent and playful. We went in thinking we would be able to choose and look at the whole group, but there he was, the last one waiting to be taken home. And that’s how I found my best friend.

I was twelve when Chikku came home. I was so ready for a puppy, and to finally get one after years of begging is any child’s dream come true, but this was all on one condition- that I would take care of him. At twelve how seriously does anybody take that? I agreed happily not knowing how huge a responsibility he was going to be. As a puppy, he was extremely playful and loved to destroy anything that caught his eye- be it telephone wires, clothes, shoes, belts, or books. He loved chewing and eating everything he wasn’t supposed to. You would expect a dog to be extremely excited about food and be constantly hungry especially when they’re small and they have all this puppy energy inside. He was the exact opposite of that, he was so fussy with his food that my mother had to feed him with a syringe, I know for a fact I was way better than him as a baby. It was like having a toddler in the house, he demanded your attention, he loved playing around and pooping in all the wrong places.

I remember being absolutely clueless when it came to holding and handling him. I would just about manage not to hurt him but my mother would constantly tell me what to do and what not to do. Chikku quickly became the most important member of our family, everything and everyone in the house only functioned according to his schedule. We lived in an apartment where we were the first people to get a pet, let alone a dog. Everyone was petrified, so he always stayed inside our flat. He knew nothing of the outside world; all he looked at was people walking in and out of the building through our living room window. So, when we moved to a new independent house a year later, it was like newfound freedom for him, he had so much place to run around the house, he could see the road outside, he could go for walks next to the fields. The newfound freedom came with unbridled joy and a constant urge to run outside the gate onto the road anytime the gate was slightly ajar. Once he steps out of the house, any memory of his family disappears immediately. He goes on his own little adventure followed by me running behind him, followed by my mother, followed by my father close behind in his car making vain attempts at trying to get him to jump into the car. Weirdly enough the only thing that stopped him the first few times was me dropping on my knees on the road acting like I am crying.

Having said that his favourite activity that he loves indulging in is, barking at badly dressed strangers walking on the road.

Chikku is not your regular dog, he’s got sass, high standards, elegance, and pride. He has a bizarre way of concluding whether he likes a human or not. The conditions are as follows:

1. You need to be properly dressed, which are pants, shirts, kurtis or sarees.

2. You absolutely cannot and should not cover your head with anything. Living in an area where livestock and farming are fairly common, men walk around with towels tied around their heads and women wear nighties. Chikku will not tolerate this sort of shabby dressing.

3. If you are a robber who is well dressed, he will cordially invite you into the house.

You can already tell how difficult it is to please him and to be accepted by him as a somewhat okay human. With all of this attitude and pride, he also is the sweetest little thing I have ever seen. He has his little unique personality. He hates being touched and cuddled, if at all he wants that, he asks you for it by gently pawing your hand. Almost seven years later he still is the worst eater, most of the time he even forgets that I have placed his food in his bowl. Chikku cultivated and enhanced his singing abilities by being a very integral part of my Carnatic music lessons. He loves singing along with me and matching my pitch. His judgemental behaviour doesn’t leave him here as well. I play a lot of music in the house and his least favourite artiste to listen to is ironically the most well-put-together and distinguished group Pentatonix. The moment he hears the harmonies he leaves the room swiftly.

He is the most attention-seeking, narcissistic member of the family, he needs his daily dose of conversation and playtime, and his alone time is just as important. He loves being in a room all by himself, observing everything placed on the bed or the table, so that he already has a plan as to what he can drop the moment I’m out of sight.

I’d like to think I co-parent Chikku with my mother, I take him on walks, give him his food, wash his butt when there is poop stuck, and also help give him a bath. He has changed my life in ways I never would have imagined. There have been times I have complained about washing his vessels, changing his water, and being lazy to take him on walks, but in my heart of heart I know he always will be my first love, he has taught me what it takes to love and care for an animal, he has taught me patience, he has taught me how you can be there for your best friend when they are not okay and most importantly, he has taught me what it is to be human.