After all the excitement of the first afternoon without his real mother,Mutlee began to cry. At first it was a soft whimper which became louder and louder ,till it became a long mournful howl. He had all our attention by now as we realized he needed something . Ishan thought he would be thirsty after all the prancing around,so he got him some water,I thought he was tired ,Ashwat thought he was bored ,so he brought his collection of batmen to show him,where as the only one who understood his need was my husband. He brought Mutlee some milk in a big dog bowl (as small dog bowls were not available those days) . Every time we told him to drink from the bowl he would turn his head away and when the children tried to force him he nearly drowned in the bowl . He looked so cute with milk all over his face , completely  baffled as he didn’t know what to do being used to drinking milk from his mother. All this while he had stopped howling but as soon as my husband wiped his face with a wet cloth he began howling again. He looked so pathetic, small and vunerable that my heart went out to him but I pretended otherwise. I began to say we should have never got a dog home as they were a real pain declaring that I was not going to look after him as I had had my share of bringing up the boys . Having a dog in the house is like having another baby, I grumbled to my husband. All this time, while I was grumbling  Mutlee had been looking at me with his beautiful soulful eyes ,as if he understood every word.Much to my surprise, he stopped howling, gently came forward and lay down next to my feet. He is the only one I know who is so smart, that he can make you feel like shit without saying a word . My heart went out to this little baby who was so intutive that he did not want to make me angry even at his own expense…..I picked him up …. put him on my lap and he began  wagging his tail.In the mean time my husband had got a plastic syringe and decided to see if we could feed him that way. The boys took turns and fed him slowly  with the syringe ,after which he fell asleep curled up like a fluffy soft white ball.

He woke up after an hour fully charged up ,ready with his performance again. The boys were so thrilled to see him awake that they continued to play with him through out the evening. In the mean time he had piddled a couple of times and had done potty once which was magically cleared up ,as I had made it very clear that I was not going to look after a puppy. The kids had brought a large cardboard box for him to sleep in and put newspaper in it along with a tiny blanket . We could not buy a cage for him as they were not available in India at that time. Being a puppy he needed to be boxed in or he might get hurt at night wandering around .My husband cut holes in the cardboard box at his eye level so that he could look out . All this preparation was done in vain as Mutlee refused to be caged up. Every time they put him in the box he would howl and howl till they took him out. After several attempts everyone was exhausted including Mutlee who slept in his cot(as the kids called it).I had on the other hand removed myself from this scene and was watching MTV( my favorite channel those days) unperturbed by all this commotion.A couple of hours later just when my husband was about to get into bed Mr Mutlee decided that he needed company .He howled the place down as he had wet the blanket and the newspapers in his box. This continued through out the night but I did not get up as it was part of the deal that the three boys would have to look after the puppy.I drifted in and out of my sleep thinking all the while-OH MY GOD WHAT A PAIN!!! Mutlee is so smart that he probably realized that, so next morning he decided to take steps to win me over…….he wanted to stick to me for everything…….followed me around like a little lamb …….gazed at me with those adorable almond eyes………licked my feet ……….wagged his tail at me …….did every thing he could think of till I finally picked him up!!!! Then he rested in my lap and smiled…..it is uncanny but Mutlee actually smiles……..I am sure he was thinking …..I am going to make sure she loves me and how!!!

The kids Ishan and Ashwat  were overjoyed to get a puppy. They took turns to hold him and wanted to play with him ,all the while forgetting how small he was. When he reached home, the tiny little puppy was in his elements,running around,hopping, skipping,jumping acting as if he had lived there forever . In retrospect I think he had heard my declaration , during the car ride while bring him home that I would have nothing to do with him ,as I did not like dogs. He really knows how to win hearts as you will come to understand during the course of his life. So he decided to put on this fascinating Magic Show!!! to  mesmerize everyone. He would hide and then come running towards you ,take a leap in the air like a ballerina, landing daintily on his little paws, his tail spinning like a top, enquiring with his eyes whether you liked his show and disappear again. His performance was enthralling, even a dog hater like me was fascinated by this tiny bundle of joy,while I watched from the sidelines.

Rajeev my husband  had taken charge and went to buy all the things required for the new puppy. He wanted to buy puppy dog food, a puppy coat, a tiny bowl and a small cage to make him sleep in. To his utter dismay he could not find any of the above. There was no Dog food ‘made in India’ during those days (only imported), no coats were available for puppies (only for full grown dogs), no tiny bowls (only ugly looking big bowls) and lastly no cages were around (had to make do with a cardboard box). Now twelve years later, many Indian companies have started manufacturing dog food ,as well as foreign companies like Pedigree have set shop in India. Individual entrepreneurs have sprung up, who deliver home cooked hygienic gourmet lunches and dinners for dogs.  A wide array of products for dogs are freely available in India. Coats of all sizes and kinds are worn by all sorts of dogs including some street dogs!! Many people who own dogs have become very compassionate towards these street dogs and make them wear coats during the winter months. All sorts of toys and accessories, are manufactured in India for dogs, providing the owner with an array of choices. With the new generation of Indians which include young movie stars pampering /loving their canine friends ,its fair to say that it has become quite a ‘Dogs World’.

This blog is dedicated to my dog MUTLEE ,who is the most wonderful, loving, gentle, kind, caring, patient, playful, happy, friendly, wise, intelligent, intuitive and smart individual I have ever known. Very rarely can you use all these adjective to describe a person,unless he is a saint!!! but thats my Mutlee.I don’t seem to be the only one using words like these to describe my Dog . Almost all my friends described their dogs similarly, gushing over them endlessly. Since Mutlee came into my life I have become a Dog lover and sensitive to causes like “cruelty toward animals” “animal shelters” “animal health care” etc.

In India we become immune to our surroundings, with beggars appearing out of nowhere at almost every other traffic light (though a lot of them are able bodied and are not really poor- they have made it their profession),stray barking dogs and cows meandering down streets. As we grow up, these sights are a part of the surroundings, so we barely notice them. Therefore, earlier many Indians were not sensitive towards a stray hungry dog barking,snarling ,curled up in the cold or lying around injured. But things are changing now,people have begun to notice the suffering of these poor creatures,due to the fact that a large number of people are keeping dogs as pets, This new fad in India has made the new generation realize  what  a wonderful, loving and extraordinary species’ DOGS’ are. This has lead to opening up of dog shelters, dog hospitals,dog care centers along with the dog saloons and spas. India has finally woken up to the fact that “A Dog is Mans Best Friend “.

Through this blog of my” Best Friend ” Mutlee who is 12 years old now, you will see the changing face of Dogs in India. Like everything else in India globalization has played a positive role in this sphere too………..

December 25th 1999 Mutlee was born to parents ( like we say in India) of different classes(upper and lower class). His father was a pedigree thorough breed golden Labrador stud with thick paws and strong legs . Whereas his mother was not , she looked undernourished, frail, with a long sad face,thin legs and according to my husband was a mongrel. Two months later, one  saturday afternoon my two boys Ishan(9 yrs) and Ashat(7 yrs) came up to me mischievously and told me that we were all going for a drive. Little did I know that they had hatched a plan with their father to go on a dog buying spree. I HATED DOGS ,as a child I had seen a movie called “The Doberman Gang ” where a gang of dogs  were used to rob banks by  attacking the attendants and tearing them to pieces. That movie had a lasting impression on me and I always imagined every dog I saw, coming to rip me apart. So during the drive, when I was told about their devious plan I freaked out!!! I vehemently objected and refused to get out of the car. The boys  excitedly ran into the breeders office and came back begging me to at least look at the puppies.

Sullenly I obliged-repeating that we not going to bring a dog home whatever happened!! Inside my husband was communicating with the breeder, like an experienced dog owner, while examining a litter of Alsatians (according to him they were the only dogs to have in the house-as he had a couple of them while growing up). The boys were going ecstatic over the puppies . Out of curiosity I  asked the breeder “which is the most intelligent breed according to you ?” he promptly replied “Golden Labs, as they are used to help physically impaired humans “. He said he had six Golden Lab puppies and that he would show them to us . Those little rascals came running out, jumping at each other, rolling, yelping, going round and round in circles . Totally uncontrollable and rowdy, I thought and was about to get up and leave ,when suddenly I noticed one of them had come next to me and  had sat down near my feet looking up at me with the most adoring eyes. Looking into his eyes something stirred deep in my soul, as if I had a Karmic connection with him, I picked him up.He began to softly lick my hand and wag his tail ,all the time talking to me with his eyes. Something  came over me and I head myself saying “He’s so cute”. Me the dog hater was speaking an alien language. My boys were so happy  echoing my thoughts saying “he’s was so cute,he’s so cute”. They said we would take him home and much to my surprise, I was agreeing.  My husband ,the Alsatian lover ,demanded to see his parents. He liked the father but like I said earlier was very disdainful of his mother,calling her a mongrel.He put his foot down and said that MUTLEE would look like her when he grew up and we would not keep a mongrel as a pet dog. All this while Mutlee was sitting in my lap as if he had chosen me as his mother.In the Hindu Mythology the soul of the child choses the mother-here Mutlee had chosen me. Looking at this vulnerable, innocent, helpless, gentle , round, almond eyed fluffy ball I became adamant . I said “if we have a dog its this one or no one else” .Twelve years ago we did not have many breeders in India, so our choices were very limited. The breeder told my husband we would have to wait till the next litter. Realizing that I might change my mind again and not want to keep a dog my husband finally relented, after a lot of arguments . 25th February amidst a lot of excitement ,he came home and was named MUTLEE SEHGAL.

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