ডাকবাংলা

My Family and Other Animals

I was born in a household where humans and animals formed a collective ‘fauna’, which went in the name of family.
I cannot stand the idea of animal cruelty and the way stray dogs and cats are often treated or simply neglected.
Ever since I was old enough to remember I could see my mother lugging off huge bags of food to feed the strays in the neighbourhood and the entire Rabindra Sarobar area. I have some of the fondest childhood memories of going on those walks with her. It isn’t the easiest job to say the least. They way she fought and continues to fight against all those viscous morning walkers who insist they not be fed. They somehow expect these helpless cats and dogs to find sustenance from the soil as if they were trees. This struggle escalated during the lockdowns as public parks were closed off. Mother had to run to the police station multiple times to get a special permit done so that these poor babies do not starve due to no fault of their own. Naturally, I’ve grown up to love animals a tad bit more than humans. Their very distinctive quirks that  often become the reason for the names they acquire is a daily conversation in our home.

Whenever I travel, my mother insists I carry a solid supply of biscuits in case I happen to run into a stray. Last time I travelled to North Bengal, a friend of mine and I started a trend of naming all the strays we met and fed with very ‘Bangali bhodrolok/bhodromohila‘ names. For instance, there was Amitabho, Goutam, Shoudamini among others.

I have a habit of talking to dogs and cats as if they were humans which a lot of my friends used to be embarrassed about it since I shamelessly do it in public but I’ve since converted them into animal lovers, most of them make it a point to feed the ones outside their house as well.

In all of my Jadavpur days, there is one such human being I greatly related to in this context. One of my dearest and quirkiest professors, Dr. Rimi B. Chatterjee, aka Rimi di. She regularly fed all the dogs around the arts side of the campus, also engaging in delightfully amusing conversations with them. In fact, I would say, inculcating this attitude within several Jadavpur University students is partly her credit. It is extremely important in my opinion to drill into young minds that one should never be cruel to helpless animals. Our legal system is also to blame. Until recently very recently there was no law to incur punishment on such disgusting humans.

I had a conversation regarding this to one of my Jadavpur colleagues where I had asked her how she would describe the relationship between the students and the strays in campus. She beautifully explained how they undoubtedly belong there. “Stories of Jadavpur are incomplete without anecdotes of the ‘doggos’ and ‘cattos’. I mean, they’re part of our college life in the most subtle and amusing ways. You would be sitting at Gate no. 4 and having cha and a kitten could just climb up in your lap and fall asleep. Don would just sit and observe everyone from his favourite spots in worldview. If you’re lucky, you might just spot a bunch of pups playing by the jheel,” said Shinjinee Pal.

She mentioned Don, this ancient dog. No one seemed to know his age. He would trot about with his three legs and everyone knew him and was fond of him. When he passed away a couple of years back, everyone from JU was heartbroken and it was all over social media.

Interestingly enough, my parents used to secretly rescue and hide stray cats under their bed from back when they were newly married. In retrospect, I think this the reason their marriage has lasted this long. This love for animals and their quirks are at the core of their bond. Sooner or later this trait inevitably embedded in my blood would have been triggered and it was, right around 2015-16, when a friend of mine and I brought two tiny stray cats home. When I say tiny, I mean they fit in my palm and could barely walk straight. Their mother had been unfortunately run over by a car and I just couldn’t help myself because I knew they wouldn’t make it on their own if left on the streets. Ma named them Goopi and Bagha.

I’ve had a bit of a ‘My Family and Other Animals’ kind of childhood and now adulthood but I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I can only hope I succeed in spreading this love like a disease to as many people as possible so they can show these poor babies a little bit of kindness.

Illustration by Suvamoy Mitra

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