A Star Is Born

By Xlibris US

Lollipop, a lovely white Japanese Spitz, came into our lives when our two sons were in their early teens. He became a member of our family, our furkid. He brought smiles and laughter to our lives every day, and was our good luck charm. He enriched our lives and also made us rich. From the day he entered our home, he was the center of attention. We brought him up the same way as we had brought up our two children, except that this time it was under their scrutiny. We soon realized that we had a brat on hand, but loved all his antics. All his actions looked funny, and we could only laugh at them. Such is the power of canine love. Often our neighbors, more so their children, suddenly became very friendly as soon as they saw him. When our sons moved out, he filled the gap in our lives. He was so close to us that sometimes we believed we could read his mind. His passing away created a void in our lives which will never be filled. A Star is Born is his story, partly in his own words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499050080

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Copyright © 2014 by Rajeev Lal.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/21/2014

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

1 Birth of an animal lover

2 Our first dog

3 Chosen by a puppy

4 The ball comes home

5 Freedom by Midnight

6 Home Alone

7 Is it the same house?

8 So easy to start a conversation

9 Understanding animals

10 The beach lover

11 The lucky charm

12 Not my house

13 The separated family

14 The seasoned traveler

15 On the bed at last

16 New food habits

17 Games dogs play

18 Dressed up for winter

19 On the wheel

20 Vet’s wrath

21 The brat gets trained

22 Watch Dog

23 The swirling ball

24 Visit to Goa

25 Uprooted again

26 Train journey

27 Narrow escape

28 The protest

29 Fountain tail

30 The natural swimmer

31 Spring in the step

32 Sixth sense

33 The sympathetic healer

34 Walks to the lake

35 The relay race

36 At last he can speak

37 The shock

38 Mirror, mirror on the wall

39 Birthday party

40 The last night

41 A Star is Born

Dedicated to

My wife

Nisha

Who kindled the love for animals in my heart

and

My father

Dr. Kishori Saran Lal

From whom I inherited the interest in writing

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank

Mr. and Mrs. Phanidhar for giving Lollipop to us.

My father-in-law Mr. K.S. Sinha and mother-in-law Mrs. Shailla Sinha for taking care of Lollipop when we were travelling for long periods.

Noopur, Bharti, Nakul and our friends Vasanthi Kutty, Kanak & Meena Kothari and Baljit Singh for their affection to Lollipop.

Mr. Surya of Surya Adsystems Hyderabad, India for the sketches in this book

Preface

A s a child, the only brush I had with animals at home was with rats and lizards, and an occasional stray cat. All of them were shooed away in my family. We took protective measures against rodents and animals, and the rats and lizards were to be killed when they became too much of a nuis ance.

Then I married an animal lover.

Nisha’s love of animals had started from the cradle. She must have inherited this from her father who had great interest in animals, and loved them too. The neighbour’s dog took a liking to her and started spending a lot of time sitting near her cradle, protecting her. By the time she was three, she had an Alsatian for herself. Her father being in the government and stationed in a small town, they had a large house with a huge compound and a bevy of servants who looked after the female dog – Rita. Then there were pigeons, guinea pigs and rabbits - who kept multiplying every day. At one time they had forty rabbits. When they moved to the city of Lucknow and started staying in a flat on the first floor (level 2), Rita was the only one who remained. Nisha and her father frequently bought a pair of birds along with a small cage from the local pet market. Her mother would release the birds after a couple of months, and then the next pair would come. Even Rita was given away one day by her mother while Nisha was at school, as she felt that the limited space in the apartment was not good for the Alsatian. It was the darkest day in Nisha’s life.

When we got married Nisha had a white Pomeranian Cheetu, presented by a class fellow at the university. She left Cheetu behind with her parents. It was her dog, and the parting was not easy. After marriage we stayed at a number of places, and she kept trying to keep some pets off and on. Only in 1993, seventeen years after our marriage, we got home a dog who was with us for fourteen eventful years. He became a member of our family, so close to us that sometimes we believed we could read his mind. He brought smiles and laughter to our lives every day, and was our good luck charm.

This is his story.

1

Birth of an animal lover

I was in Madras (now Chennai) in southern India when Nisha and I got married in October 1975. We lived in an apartment complex in central Madras on the second floor (or level 3) which was also the top floor, in a rented flat. There were no elevators, only stairs. We had a studio apartment with a bedroom that had an attached toilet. The drawing room had a balcony in front and extended on the other end into a dining space. The dining space had a small kitchen on one side and an extra Indian style toilet on the opposite side.

I used to go to a factory outside the city for work. Therefore I had to leave home early in the morning for an hour’s bus ride to the office, and returned late in the evening. Nisha often spoke about being lonely whole day and within a couple of months of our stay together, cajoled me into getting a small rabbit. We named him Mithu. Even the best of vets find it difficult to determine the sex of a baby rabbit and we conveniently assumed that it was a male. It was pure white, and must have been about four weeks old when we brought him from a small market nearby where animals and birds were sold.

Mithu started owning the flat as much as we did, and took over the toilet attached to the dining space. It was my first brush with animal intelligence. He started using that Indian style toilet regularly to relieve himself, and never dirtied the house. Mithu also introduced us to our neighbours very soon. He started his day with a walk up and down the edge of the balcony early in the morning. People who saw him for the first time from down below would ring our bell to warn us, scared that the rabbit will fall off. Some went to the extent of believing that the little fellow was trying to commit suicide due to our neglect as we were still in bed while the whole city of Madras was awake. He never fell off, but within a month we came to know everyone in our block, and all the vendors for milk, newspapers, vegetables etc. who were allowed in the apartment complex early in the morning. Rabbit should be one of the last choices as a pet