Raani

This is a tribute to Raani, the senior most pet at my uncle's place. As I remember, I've been seeing Raani since 2011 or 2012. She was fully grown when I saw her first. Smaller compared to other dogs, she had beautiful eyes. She was a silent, didn't bark much. When agitated she bared her teeth and growled like any other dog. One thing about Raani, she would never let anyone touch her. Whenever I tried petting her, she would take backward steps, maintaining distance. I can count with one hand the number of times I've touched her head. Raani was an independent type but a very loyal pet. She never let anyone put a collar around her neck.

The last time we saw her was Dec 4th, She was sick, walked with great difficulty, she yelped when I touched her and did not eat biscuits. She spent a few minutes with us and went out of sight, probably to lie down in the backyard. Last Sunday morning, we heard that Raani passed away on Dec 9th 2022. Om Shanti.

Here are a few pictures of Raani with Cocoa and Casper on Sunday mornings. We had trained Cocoa and Casper to sit when biscuits were given... their Sunday morning treats. Raani was an exception, she would remain standing.

Despite all the training, Casper and Cocoa would grab biscuits from our hands. We had to withdraw our hands quickly to avoid contact. but, Raani bit the biscuits and pulled gently, making sure there was no contact with our fingers. She was very intelligent. She would understand when we spoke to her, especially when scolded. During meal times, she would patiently wait at the door for my aunt to give her food. When it came to hunger and food Casper was very impatient, he would keep barking till he got something. Raani had one funny habit of burying chapati, jolada rotti and dosa. We'd seen her dig out a small pit, place food inside and close the pit. However, we never had seen her retrieve any of the buried treasures.

Here Pushpa's telling Casper to take biscuits gently, not to grab like a wild creature.

I called the trio as adorable Nalayaks. Now on, it'll be only two Nalayaks, Raani will be missed.

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