All creatures great and small

The parrot swore M darvajo kholo at his firstfloor family unbudging to answer the ground level doorbell West View in Bandras Ice Factory Lane witnessed many an eccentric yowl and growl thanks to its Irani owners The sandstone villa veiled by palm trees and paan vines bordered our buildingSquawking to be served his guavachillies snack the bird cussed in colourful Gujarati His expletives echoed through the sprawling home Shirinbai and Sheriar Hormuzdi shared with fish tanks the monkeys Tarabai and Sitaram and even a hothead elephant chasing Hill Road cars on visits from the Dahisar farmPatron saint of animals St Francis of Assisi surrounded by his beloved birds Mosaic by Aashika and Tanishaa Cunha Collection of Madhavi Desai When their leopard named Tiger scared passersby the good lady of the house placated No no the small dogs meaner Tiny terror Brownie the Silky Sydney was the cool cigarsmoking carnival dog coached to puff stylishly as a circus trick Warily I wondered who might venture out while I plucked fresh kari patta from West View bushes for prawn curry lunchMore big cats roamed further south Churchgate residents gawped at Salim Barodawala strolling with a leopard he later gifted the Khandala zoo Italian emigre Marconi made a familiar sight treading Warden Road with his leopard Losing its mother to poachers in 1950s Matheran that cub followed his jeep despite attempts to release it in the forest and began lording the lawn of Marconis rented home at Mecklai Mansion Children of the house bowling cricket balls landing near his rope waited to retrieve these by moonlight after he was indoorsTiger the Hormuzdi family leopard in West View villa seen behind Thrity Irani a daughter of the house Mecklai Mansion was veritably menagerie manor with its leopard peacocks so it was rechristened Peacock Palace and Jacko the monkeys antics With Pega Mecklai introducing this bandarwalas creature Chhote Khan the family Jeeves contentedly let the shoulderperched simian pick nits from his hairSocial scientist Meera Coelho Chatterjees family doted on a sleek black panther Her grandfather Francis Xavier Saldanha was Conservator of Forests in Kolhapur of the 1940s A tribesman brought him a lost cub Meera relates My teenaged mother was especially fond of Raja Into her 60s she proudly showed a thigh scar from playing with him Growing he pawed a house helper Unable to risk him around anymore Abba had him lodged at Byculla zoo Till he shifted leashed Raja strutted along Moreland Road their Bombay address to the admiration or consternation of locals He died soon after being caged Pining for Mummy he had real tears in his eyes whenever she saw himKalu the mongrel at his Regal Cinema adda Pic courtesyWSDNot far in Khetwadi another adored young Raja purred softly Advocate Kumar Desai points to his balcony that had sheltered a tiger The last to hold the combined post of Court Receiver and Liquidator Kumars grandfather Balwantrao Desai accompanied Indian and English officers to weekend hunts The family doted on the cub trailing home one day Growing beyond Alsatian size Raja was sent to the Mysore zoo Alarming telegrams reached the Desais Their feline just refused to eat Raised a shuddh shakahari in Gujaratidominated Khetwadi he shunned meat Diet tweaked he thrivedFourlegged favourites of every breed held 20thcentury citizens in thrall Raising charity funds by maverick means Sir Cowasji Jehangirs dynamo daughter Bapsy Sabavala presented with panache a pig at an animal rights gala at the Taj ballroom to SK Patil The Congress minister suddenly found himself shaking hands with a Shropshiretype pink porcine bundle etiquettetutored to greet guestsBella the pig with Sameer Vohra at his Kalote shelter and Gordon the rescued ponyWhen the Taj hosted Dumb Friends Night in 1952 that benefit evening belonged to Ataturk white wonder horse of showman Jimmy Bharucha the only Indian trained at the Vienna Academy Ataturk splendidly performed the waltz tango and foxtrot practising moves by car headlights at Wellington Mews to avoid skittish moments under bright bulbs flashed in the equestrian extravaganza The dancing horse ascended the grand staircase in nifty leather boots with slipproof crepe solesAdil Gandhy of Chemould Frames shares an instance of 1960s Bombay benevolence that saved the Matheran horse which won him riding championships When Super Boy suffered grave injury everyone gave up hope Barring Bapsy of course determined to enlist help from Parels Haffkine Institute Transporting large wounded animals by train was unprecedented She did what she had to Nonchalantly faking a telegram to the Central Railways chairman with instructions to carry Super Boy she signed it from SK Patil declaring Ill explain to Patil Hell understand Graciously he did And Super Boy survivedIntolerant of the slightest cruelty Bapsy also struck fear in tongawalas hitting horses or bullocks Politely borrowing an offenders whip she threatened a licklash with it asking Want to see how it feelsThe Bombay Dog Riots of 1832 an early example of public protection of animals resulted in Bhuleshwars 1834built Panjrapole Protesting the British governments 1832 policy to massacre strays the usually peaceable Parsi community led by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy surged strong against the move Years on passionate canine lovers have expressed feeling totally bereft without them Actor Pran decried the worst effect of Partition for him the only one of his 93 years endured minus a dogRescue adventures abound in the annals of The Welfare of Stray Dogs Daisy Sidhwa of WSD who is from the Regal Cinema family says Skinny with distemperinduced chorea Kalu the mongrel recovered hanging about CCDBarista where foreigners he smartly buttered up fed him Often sauntering off to explore VT Navy Nagar and Fort he once disappeared for six days A Colaba coconut seller traced Kalu in Bhayander where he lived The wanderer pooch had hopped aboard a train to the suburbThe happiness of strays depends on their closeness to humans says Daisy Rani a weak pup at the State Police Headquarters opposite got sprightly on tonics and sipping chai cops poured her in paper cups When she friskily started digging their flowerbeds they kept watch though the day At night Daisy took her home Six months into the arrangement the men in uniform requested Rani back 247mdashKyonki woh bahut achha chowki karti haiAbodh Aras of WSD has a longstanding association with Irani cafe dogs and cats Id go with my grandfather to Persian Restaurant at Grant Road for tea and brun he remembers With WSD I experienced the kindness of these spaces towards street animals Proprietors welcomed them calling us for their treatment in Bastani Britannia Brabourne Mondegar Ideal Corner B Merwan Majestic and ParadiseSetting up the Kalote Animal Trust wwwkaloteanimaltrustcom on city outskirts as a labour of love Sameer Vohra says We have 500 residents of different species coexisting without being caged or tied I hear endearing accounts Starved to extreme emaciation Bella the pig with sores bad enough to stop her walking transformed beautifully to join her ninemember clan Hero ditched by shepherds healed with nursing but is convincedmdashwith all the woofing dogs aroundmdashthat hes one of them not a sheepEquine veterinarian Krish Someshwar describes Gordon a 10dayold pony discovered on the BombayPoona highway Standing in shock beside his blind sick mother he was dull dehydrated body lacerated by barb wire Both were taken to Kalote and Sameer phoned me But she succumbed to her severe systemic infection in two days rues Dr Someshwar Orphaned baby Gordon needed a weeks medication round the clock bottle feeds and TLC to withstand surgery stitching his wounds Independent in a few months he befriended other animals and is now a happy healthy twoyearold with a big personalityAffirming the energy exchange of twolegged and fourlegged personalities naturalist Katy Rustom the Hormuzdis niece says The distinction between the species simply got narrower Those animals humanised usMiracles in mistakesZeus with NiharikaDog whisperer Niharika Gandhi tells a tender taleFaith is a rocksolid emotion Zeus is one dog whose determination to seek fresh destiny brought him back to me twice from abandonment and finally to his very own familyI named him Zeus spotting him sit majestically godlike silent tears rolling down furry cheeks He became a Hiranadani Gardens Powai adoptee falling in love with me from day one As well as with rickshaw drivers parked at the stand and veggie vendors feeding him carrots nicknaming him Lal Sahib or GoldieSix months post sterilisation he was left again in the Aarey jungle Used to rickshaws he limped into one refusing to get off till its destination Kora Kendra in Borivli We know this from Gargi who runs a boarding kennel there She travelled in a rick owned by a Yadav The same Yadav ferrying Zeus from Aarey to BorivliDropping Gargi at the kennel he said an injured shiny chocolate dog had a long ride in his rick News of lost Zeus was plastered across the Internet Gargi showed Yadav the photo Wham Our dogWe contacted Gargi via a chain of wellwishers Unbelievably reunited with Zeus I thanked the angels delivering him back After two months the Lobos from Shivaji Park called Zeus resembled their late dog I dropped him to his new home where hes treated like a darling Renamed Dodger he will always be our dog with the grit to survive and find joy Dog blessAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycom wwwmehermarfatiacomKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated 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