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Chottu Lived Larger Than Life!

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By Ruchi Verma

In the luggage, Pramod Kumar has packed to leave by train to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh, is…a worn-out ball! Torn at some places and broken in a few, the rubber ball is Pramod’s most cherished belonging. After all, it was his friend Chottu’s best toy.

After days of fretting and fuming over all the attention, his youngest son commanded from one and all, a five-year old Sheroo has been refusing to touch food as he looks in the horizon with wistful eyes for Chottu as he’d run, sideways, towards him, teasingly, for a bit of play. Chaiwala Balkrishna urges him to cheer up and prods him to grab a bite or two, “Chal Sheroo, kha le…mujhe bhi bohut yaad aati hai Chottu ki.”

SNACKING: Chottu having curd being fed by a dog-lover

From the one-month pup he was when chaiwala Balkrishna Yadav fetched him from Mazgaon all the way to having his own pups and, now Chottu, who literally robbed him of the exclusive attention, Sheroo had come a long way. Now, like his earlier pups, Chottu too had left…abruptly; Leaving Sheroo alone, once again.

CAJOLING: Balkrishna Yadav coaxing a sad Sheroo to eat
Chottu left his extended family of dogs and humans working at Balkrishna Yadav’s chai stall on the pavement outside the Children’s Traffic Park at Cooperage in Colaba on 28 November 2020 after a brief two-month-long stay as ‘family.’

The puppy was the cynosure of all eyes at Yadav’s chai stall. The last of Sheroo’s sons, nine in all, was kept back by Yadav after the rest were adopted by others, to “play with Sheroo,” and give him company. And play he did, and spread a joy that outlived the puppy’s very life.

Mornings are never the same for Balkrishna Yadav’s boys. “How can I forget him? Aisa lagta hai ki abhi bhag ke aayega kahin se,” says Ankit, whose eyes well up with tears as he speaks of Chottu in the present, before turning back to his mobile – his solace for now. As the boys would ready for the day, making samosas and other snacks to be sold at Balkrishna Yadav’s stall, Chottu would be prancing about with a mirth that spread far and wide.

MISSING CHOTTU: Ankit Kumar, Umesh Kumar, Pramod Kanojia and Balkrishna Yadav with Sheroo (From left)

The puppy sparked unknown feelings of envy even among the three boy workers, Ankit Kumar, Umesh Kumar, and the eldest Pramod Kanojia, each of who called Chottu ‘his own’. But, Chottu would snuggle only besides Pramod every night to sleep. And, Pramod hasn’t managed to grab a restful sleep ever since Chottu died to a severe bout of Parvo that nipped his life, like it does with thousands of ‘street animals’, in the bud and in a flash.

“Bohut suna suna lagta hai, Chottu ke bagair” recalls 21-year-old Umesh who would also play with him so often that his boss would have to reprimand him for failing to pay attention to customers.
Why, even a black and white Lucky, belligerent as ever and known as a ‘biter’, too drops in off and on from his zone, a next-door study centre to look for Chottu. “I would play with him just like I would with the other dogs…I miss him dearly,” says a study centre regular and MPSC aspirant Jaspal Singh Rajput as he pets Lucky.

CANINE LOVE: Jaspal Singh Rajput with Lucky at the study centre

And, among the animal friends, Chottu is missed dearly by octogenarian Bano Sheikh’s cat, known to run with Chottu all around the neighbourhood every morning, dodging office-going residents and home-makers busy with household works. She sits on Bano Sheikh’s lap, waiting to hear Chottu’s yelp.

MATE LESS: Octogenarian Bano Sheikh with her cat missing Chottu dearly

The chaiwala’s senior-most ‘manager’ Pramod, all of 32 years of age, would play ball with Chottu, games with rules that just the two would understand. “I had to grab the rubber ball from his mouth as he’d clench it tightly between his teeth,” reveals Pramod. So, the ball, predictably, has been torn and cracked in a dozen places.

From its cost of Rs 10 for the rubber ball when purchased new, it has now become priceless for Pramod. After all, it holds memories of an invaluable time spent with Chottu. Pramod had to fight albeit verbally with Ankit and Umesh for endless hours to be able to reclaim the ‘ball,’ he has now packed carefully in a cloth bag to take back with him to his village in Uttar Pradesh.

THE SWAGGER: Chottu stole hearts in the short life he lived

“I’ll leave it safely in my tijori at home,” he says. Memories of Chottu will stay forever in the hearts of the dozen whose lives he touched in his short two month-long existence at chaiwala Balkrishna Yadav’s stall at Cooperage.

#StreetSmart is a column on street animals who live and die among us and get immortalised forever. If you know of such an animal, contact us on thedraftcolaba@draftcraft.in with a story complete with images. The Draft Colaba will document their journey and publish it here.