Poli was not a dog,” writes Gulzar about his Boxer who went on morning walks with him and had the same biscuits he did as they sat on the balcony. In a poem he writes on his beloved companion, translated into English by Udayan Mitra, Gulzar records an amusing conundrum:

“There was a problem:
How was I going to call Pali now?
My friend Partipal, Pali and me
The three of us were sitting in the drawing room.
What if I said ‘Pali’ and Partipal replied?”