Casper
10 years ago one fine day, as I was stepping out of my studio, I saw a small white puppy lying on the road. On asking around, I found that there were 2 pups and their mother was a victim to roadkill. The other pup was taken away to be raised by some kids in the slum area nearby. I wasn’t sure if I could take this pup home because I had my African Gray Parrot, Raju, at home who was approximately 32 years old back then and he had been with me since my childhood and I didn’t want to discomfort him. So I decided to bring the pup into the society where I had recently moved in and thought I’ll keep him safe in the premises. I named him Casper.
It was a quiet society, but Casper’s presence changed that. All the kids who used to sit in their house suddenly started letting go of their inhibitions and started interacting with each other, while playing with Casper. The society members also took to Casper’s cute looks and some of the families started taking care of feeding him and in the daytime, some of them would take him home and leave him back in the premises at night.
He wasn’t any one person’s pet but was everyone’s friend. One of the kids even built him a beautiful dog house and his family offered their garage space to keep Casper and his dog house in there. It was a sweet gesture. Most of the times I used to take him in during the nights and leave him in the society in the mornings, on my way to work. On weekends, he was mostly home with me.
Trouble started when Casper started growing up. Since he wasn’t potty trained, some of the elders in the society started complaining that they didn’t want an untrained, stray dog in the compound. The issue grew serious and ultimately a committee hearing was called for, with the chairman. I wrote to the society members and the Chairman,
explaining how Casper was of a good temperament and how he brought joy into other people’s lives.
On the day of the committee meeting, in the midst of the session, the entire gang of children who loved Casper barged into the room. They demanded that he not be thrown out and fought really hard for him. It was so heartwarming to see the compassion they had for him.
Unfortunately, the final decision was that Casper needs to be adopted by one of the families or that he be moved out.
Thus began a search for an adopter for Casper. I tried really hard for the next 20 days, but nothing was working out. That’s when the family who had offered their garage space to Casper stepped in. They happily offered to have him live in their farmhouse close by. The time and date to shift him to the farmhouse were fixed.”
It was a quiet society, but Casper’s presence changed that. All the kids who used to sit in their house suddenly started letting go of their inhibitions and started interacting with each other, while playing with Casper. The society members also took to Casper’s cute looks and some of the families started taking care of feeding him and in the daytime, some of them would take him home and leave him back in the premises at night.
He wasn’t any one person’s pet but was everyone’s friend. One of the kids even built him a beautiful dog house and his family offered their garage space to keep Casper and his dog house in there. It was a sweet gesture. Most of the times I used to take him in during the nights and leave him in the society in the mornings, on my way to work. On weekends, he was mostly home with me.
Trouble started when Casper started growing up. Since he wasn’t potty trained, some of the elders in the society started complaining that they didn’t want an untrained, stray dog in the compound. The issue grew serious and ultimately a committee hearing was called for, with the chairman. I wrote to the society members and the Chairman,
explaining how Casper was of a good temperament and how he brought joy into other people’s lives.
On the day of the committee meeting, in the midst of the session, the entire gang of children who loved Casper barged into the room. They demanded that he not be thrown out and fought really hard for him. It was so heartwarming to see the compassion they had for him.
Unfortunately, the final decision was that Casper needs to be adopted by one of the families or that he be moved out.
Thus began a search for an adopter for Casper. I tried really hard for the next 20 days, but nothing was working out. That’s when the family who had offered their garage space to Casper stepped in. They happily offered to have him live in their farmhouse close by. The time and date to shift him to the farmhouse were fixed.”