The heritage campus of IIMA is known for its architecture. The most celebrated structure is the iconic Louis Kahn Plaza (LKP), named after the famous architect who created the campus. The plaza is a raised paved platform that is surrounded by three buildings. The Vikram Sarabhai Library, the building in the middle, is flanked on one side by the building that houses faculty offices, and on the other side by the building that houses the classrooms and the seminar rooms. The three buildings are linked by a long passage on the first floor that leads to the library. There is a staircase hidden behind a wall that connects the plaza to the passage on the first floor. A short flight of steps from the plaza descends to a rectangular lawn, nearly the same size as the plaza, that is located between the two flanking buildings.
Dumpy and I spent a lot of time at the LKP with Tito. We loved early morning visits to the plaza because there would be almost no one else there at that time. The nooks and crannies of the buildings surrounding the plaza provided ample opportunity for playing the game of hide and seek. On reaching the plaza we would sit down on the plaza lawn enjoying the early morning dew on the grass. I would then restrain Tito, as Dumpy ran away to hide somewhere in the plaza buildings. I would then release Tito while asking him, “Where is Dumpy?” Being a Labrador Retriever, a breed noted for sniffing out drugs, explosives, and other illicit objects, Tito possessed innate skill of tracking a scent.
Tito would take off with his nose to the ground, sniffing for Dumpy’s scent. Dumpy would deliberately take a zigzag dash to his hiding spot to confuse Tito. Tito would go bonkers trying to track the scent as it would be all over with no clear direction. After the initial confusion, however, he would pick up Dumpy’s trail to the staircase Dumpy would have taken to ascend to the first floor. In the beginning Tito was perplexed by the level difference and would hesitate to mount the steps. As I walked up to him at the foot of the staircase, he would bark at me as if asking me, “How do I proceed now? Should I go up the stairs?”. I encouraged him to trust his instincts and take the stairs to go up to the first floor to look for Dumpy. He soon became comfortable going up and down the staircases in the buildings in search of Dumpy.
The four storied buildings had eights staircases connecting the floors! By the time Tito reached the first floor, Dumpy would ascend to the second floor. By the time Tito reached the second floor, Dumpy would either go up another floor or return to the first floor, using a different staircase. Tito would get mighty irked by the up and down movement and bark loudly to show his frustration at not being able to catch Dumpy! Sometimes Dumpy would cross over to the opposite building by running across the passage while Tito was still searching for him in the building Dumpy had initially ascended. Dumpy would then call Tito from the building across and add to the poor creature’s utter confusion!
The chase across the different floors of the plaza buildings gave plenty of exercise to both Dumpy and Tito. I too would complete my morning stretching and bending exercises in the wonderful ambience of the plaza lawns, as Dumpy and Tito engaged in their game of hide and seek. After the game was over, the three of us would sit for some time on the plaza lawn, enjoying the morning breeze, before heading home. Tito would promptly go to his bowl and drink plenty of water, and then await his breakfast of boiled egg, bread, and milk.