God bless Gautam Karmakar and his dog loving ways! Had it not been for him this story would not have been written; simply because I would not have felt so grateful and relieved as to want to write a eulogy. This is a short tale of a benign quadruped who has finally found a home and a loving master.
Bambino, our protagonist, is the lone survivor of a litter of seven that was born in our colony of residential apartments in Central Calcutta in March last year. His mother, before him, had been born in the same colony of flats and had been herself the sole survivor amongst six other siblings. What she lacked in breeding and stature she made up in spirit and smartness. Bambino, the tiny mongrel, was the weakest pup of the litter and survived mostly because it came and sort of parked itself at our front door.
Being a family of animal lovers we could not ignore it’s tiny but forceful presence and started to feed and take care of it. Surprisingly, he responded to our ministrations and after a couple of doses of de-worming medicines, started to grow a healthy appetite and soon its coat began to look less ragged and moth eaten! Thus, Bambino grew day by day. The sweet tempered, scared little puppy became a fixture at our doorstep. The other residents of the colony, though no great dog lovers, reconciled themselves to the fact and left it alone. Everything was going well for Bambino. It ate and slept and played in the shadow of our protection and in turn became very dependent on our family.
Already having two dogs and a cat in our house we were not able to get Bambino to live in our home. I knew deep down that Bambino was safe for as long as it was young and his mother was there to oversee his movements within the portals of the colony. But that would have to change. Bambino would eventually grow into an adult male dog and develop an awareness of his territory and would try to establish his sway over it.
True enough. Trouble began when his mother found a huge and strange dog as companion and had another litter of puppies. Bambino in true chivalrous fashion tried to take this giant of a dog on in trying to protect his mother’s honor! Soon fights erupted between Bambino and the huge dog and Bambino found it hard to hold his own. He was over-powered by the sheer size and strength of the pariah and on one occasion was bitten severely by this other dog. We nursed him back to health but now the urgency to find Bambino a proper home grew dramatically.
If anyone of you has attempted the next to impossible task of finding homes for stray and vulnerable animals in Calcutta, you will realize the enormity of the job at hand. Thanks to some young and enthusiastic college students four puppies of the new litter were adopted. The puppies that did not find a home immediately remained under the care of my daughters and the young twins Babai and Tubai. But my heart bled for Bambino as no one wanted a dog at the awkward adolescent age as his. He was too old to be cuddled like a fat cute puppy and he was too young to be a proper watch dog. So I worried and felt anxious for him all the time.
At this juncture of despair, Gautam Karmakar appeared like a beacon of light and promised to take Bambino away and keep it with himself. We were beside ourselves with happiness when we saw that not only was he fantastic with dogs but that Bambino had taken to him instantly! He followed Gautam like a docile village belle right into the cab and off they went to his brand new home. Gautam reports that Bambino is a really good dog and that it will be easy to train him. He was sure to prove himself an asset to his household. Thank the Lord.
I can picture Bambino vividly in my mind’s eye- stretching himself contentedly after a good meal and say to himself “this is a dog’s life, you know!"
Bambino, our protagonist, is the lone survivor of a litter of seven that was born in our colony of residential apartments in Central Calcutta in March last year. His mother, before him, had been born in the same colony of flats and had been herself the sole survivor amongst six other siblings. What she lacked in breeding and stature she made up in spirit and smartness. Bambino, the tiny mongrel, was the weakest pup of the litter and survived mostly because it came and sort of parked itself at our front door.
Being a family of animal lovers we could not ignore it’s tiny but forceful presence and started to feed and take care of it. Surprisingly, he responded to our ministrations and after a couple of doses of de-worming medicines, started to grow a healthy appetite and soon its coat began to look less ragged and moth eaten! Thus, Bambino grew day by day. The sweet tempered, scared little puppy became a fixture at our doorstep. The other residents of the colony, though no great dog lovers, reconciled themselves to the fact and left it alone. Everything was going well for Bambino. It ate and slept and played in the shadow of our protection and in turn became very dependent on our family.
Already having two dogs and a cat in our house we were not able to get Bambino to live in our home. I knew deep down that Bambino was safe for as long as it was young and his mother was there to oversee his movements within the portals of the colony. But that would have to change. Bambino would eventually grow into an adult male dog and develop an awareness of his territory and would try to establish his sway over it.
True enough. Trouble began when his mother found a huge and strange dog as companion and had another litter of puppies. Bambino in true chivalrous fashion tried to take this giant of a dog on in trying to protect his mother’s honor! Soon fights erupted between Bambino and the huge dog and Bambino found it hard to hold his own. He was over-powered by the sheer size and strength of the pariah and on one occasion was bitten severely by this other dog. We nursed him back to health but now the urgency to find Bambino a proper home grew dramatically.
If anyone of you has attempted the next to impossible task of finding homes for stray and vulnerable animals in Calcutta, you will realize the enormity of the job at hand. Thanks to some young and enthusiastic college students four puppies of the new litter were adopted. The puppies that did not find a home immediately remained under the care of my daughters and the young twins Babai and Tubai. But my heart bled for Bambino as no one wanted a dog at the awkward adolescent age as his. He was too old to be cuddled like a fat cute puppy and he was too young to be a proper watch dog. So I worried and felt anxious for him all the time.
At this juncture of despair, Gautam Karmakar appeared like a beacon of light and promised to take Bambino away and keep it with himself. We were beside ourselves with happiness when we saw that not only was he fantastic with dogs but that Bambino had taken to him instantly! He followed Gautam like a docile village belle right into the cab and off they went to his brand new home. Gautam reports that Bambino is a really good dog and that it will be easy to train him. He was sure to prove himself an asset to his household. Thank the Lord.
I can picture Bambino vividly in my mind’s eye- stretching himself contentedly after a good meal and say to himself “this is a dog’s life, you know!"
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| Bambino |
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