CHENNAI: Our 20-year-old parkie legend Chinna aka Oldu at Cubbon Park has gone. He’s never going to nudge Kumkum for that extra chicken rice at 8 am, stalk Sunita for Glenands biscuits late morning or freak out Karin when she couldn’t find him near the Pay n Use toilet in the evening.
All of us are going to miss those twinkling, wise eyes, scarecrow frame and spindly legs - he was an independent, feisty old boy who lived a great life. He will be buried under the big jacaranda tree next to his home.
The gardener ladies who knew him as a constant companion on their rounds, till two years ago ( when his legs got shaky), will be there to pay their respects. After all, it’s the parks staff that allowed and supported this grand old oak tree to grow. His blessings will be on them and his caretakers. He was a benediction and in the park, he will always be.
He was coming back from hospital today, but it wasn’t meant to be. He went in the love and care of Rakesh Prabal Kumar’s arms. #Chinna, #Oldu our beloved parkie boy, go in peace. Our throats are tight, but we will give you the dignity in death you always had in your long life, our parkie Pitamaha.
By the time you read this, he would’ve been buried at his spot in Cubbon Park. You see a decrepit old dog, a tad moth-eaten, fading at the edges. We see history, resilience and love. What can we tell you about this crafty happy old boy? That he was called Chinna most times, but Sunita called him Oldu and that name stayed too. That we did the math to figure out just how old he is.
The fact that when Sunita’s late dog Dukee (who would be 18 today) was a pup, Oldu would have been nearly two years old. That’s 20 years old. That when my CJ was three or four he was already there as a young adult. This boy firmly made this corner of the park his home, followed the gardeners on their rounds, he made his friends, was neutered and vaccinated and hardly left the park except for one or two medical issues.
He grew old in that vast green circle that he loved, he knew exactly what time Kumkum’s car with his breakfast would come and he would cross two busy roads to hunt her down, even with his rheumy eyes and his shaky legs. Last month, Sunita twice had to scoop him up from the middle of the road where he had collapsed after a car grazed him, until he was safe to go to the back to his favorite space, the pay and use toilet. We looked on helplessly, wondering what on earth we could do.
This was his home and like all parkies, we knew he would hate to leave it. A month ago the casually kind toilet caretaker changed. The same man who used to ensure the small carpet he had to sleep on was clean, the water bowl was always full and yelled at us when we took Oldu for anything: ‘Hamara kutta Kahaan leke gaye’ had moved on.
The new ones were tough and had no affection for a decrepit dog. They threw him out often, Oldu was often bemused being given a hard push and sent on the wet grass. Who knows when the infection reached his ears and got maggot-ridden, but he would still stagger to his various points for his routines. Four days ago, Sunita noticed he was laying still on the grass, not eating anything and set up an alarm - she examined him and found the most awful ear wound with maggots crawling out. He was rushed to a hospital where they found another similar wound in his jaw.
He was in great pain but treated and declared well enough to discharge in two days. Kumkum visited at the hospital with his favourite soupy chicken rice - and he set up happy yowl when he saw her enter.
His wounds had mostly healed, and we went to get him back to the park. He had got a bath too. We had put out a new post for a doghouse or a tarpaulin due to the rain, requested some of the gardening staff to ensure he never got thrown out of the toilet. At noon he became paralysed and suffered a bit before he passed away in Rakesh’s comforting arms.
While all of us mourned our Pitamahas passing, I ask you which dog lives 20 glorious years with freedom, tramping in the best park in the country, a full belly, head rubs and so much love? It was a life well lived and as one of his requiems on his Facebook page said: I hope our Oldu is born as a dog lover in his next birth. I hope we meet him again.
I wonder if there will always be chicken rice and biscuits for him. One thing for certain is when we visit the spot he will be buried in, under the Jacaranda tree, we know that Oldu’s wise smiling eyes, indefatigable spirit and benediction will always remain.