We gave in to our son Dumpy’s insistence on getting a pet in the summer of 1999 and requested my friend Ramesh in Nagpur to search for a purebred black Labrador puppy. We soon found out from him that a Labrador mother had given birth to a litter of six puppies in a well-known kennel in Nagpur. The puppies were about five weeks old at the time. Puppies around 8-9 weeks are the best age for adoption because they can overcome the stress of separation from their mother and bond with their new human family. However, the kennel owner was eager to sell the puppies. He told our friend that he did not want to wait so long. We had no idea what it meant to get a puppy that was much younger than the recommended age at the time. Tito was only six weeks old when we purchased him for Rs. 7,000/- under duress from the kennel owner. The family tree printed on Tito’s birth certificate established him as a purebred Labrador Retriever. Tito was the son of Zico (father) and Maya (mother).
On July 8, 1999, Tito rode a bus from Nagpur to Ahmedabad with Harish, who worked at my friend’s. For the trip, Tito was placed in a cardboard box. Two seats on the bus were reserved for Harish and Tito. Harish used a dropper to feed Tito water and milk throughout the 24-hour journey. At each stop, Harish would replace the soggy newspapers that lined the bottom of the box with dry newspapers. He’d also used a cloth to dry Tito before putting him back in the box. Despite this, a faint smell emanated from the package. Harish had to endure disapproving looks from his fellow passengers, especially as the bus was overcrowded because standing passengers were being denied a seat. When a weary Harish reached Ahmedabad, Tito resembled a malnourished oversized mouse. His eyes were barely open. The trauma of his maiden journey had left its mark on the young life. We were worried that he might not survive the trauma. He drank some water and a little milk before promptly closing his eyes, curling up like a ball, and falling asleep in the round wicker basket on a bed made of soft cotton sheets.
Contrary to our foreboding Tito made it through the challenging first night. Dumpy, who generally woke up much later than us, was up early, the next morning. He found that Tito had survived the night though he appeared tired from the journey. Tito’s condition improved dramatically in just a few days. He grew accustomed to our presence and our handling of him. Tito captured our hearts and became a new member of the family. He provided us with his unforgettable companionship filled with joy for a decade.
The adaptability and the resilience Dumpy needed as an entrepreneur when he set up his company, now a unicorn, was perhaps imbibed from Tito.
#tito #adaptability #resilience #iima #covidwritings #book
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The article is from the book: Tito: fun-filled tales of a companion dog at IIMA which is a collection of eighteen short stories, narrated in the beautiful setting of IIMA’s heritage campus, about a companion dog that captured the hearts of campus residents and visitors with his unbounded zest for life.
https://www.nijikart.com/products/book-tito
https://www.amazon.in/Tito-fun-filled-tales-companion-IIMA/dp/8195718000