My Jaan

Background History

I've always loved dogs and always wanted one. My family and I were feeding a stray nearby. He was Black with one white stripe at his neck and golden lower legs (similar to a boxer). He was a shared puppy between us and the construction workers who were at the moment working on the construction of a house nearby. I called him Johnny and they called him Kariya. He used to respond to both names. All I had to do was call "Jaanu.." and he'd come running no matter where he was.

He really was a very brave and strong boy. Once he fought off a snake that tried to get into our house in the middle of the night, ripped it's head off. I believe it struck him, we were not sure if it was poisonous or not but my dad took him to the Vet that day. It was the first time we ever went to a Vet.

Due to various circumstances he was no longer part of our lives, I hope he's somewhere alive and happy.

One fine day around 2006, my friend who lived a lane away from me got a German Shepherd puppy. She is an active socialite and extrovert and I'm the exact opposite, yet, various life circumstances, age group, neighborhood led us to be each other's companion and perfect partners in crime. He was the cutest little thing I had ever seen. He was completely black with only few speck of golden hair, blue eyes and such tiny ears that it was almost not visible.

I went to her house soon after I heard the news. His paws were so soft that he couldn't stand on the tiled floor without his hind legs slipping away. She wanted to name him Shadow. I had once read a story about a bear cub that was brought up by a hunter because he killed it's mother. The bear cub in the story was named Bruno. It had eaten rat poison in their library and nearly died, but the family will be reunited with the bear cub and fight against all odds to stay together. I was very much moved by that story.

I had fantasized about having two German Shepherd dogs and naming them Bruno and Brooke, but I also knew the reality of opposition I'd face at home. Now that my friend at least had a chance, I suggested the name Bruno and she and her family liked it. Every day for one year, I put down an application to my parents giving her as an example.

I had dislocated my right knee in the July of 2007, even though physically I was completely recovered, my level of confidence had dropped, there was still a limp in my walk, and for almost a year, we'd been going through some tough times. The Deepavali of 2007, we experience an attempt at robbery. Some thieves cut down the glass of our car and tried to steal it. We were lucky and it was unsuccessful. But this lead my dad to gain some serious perspective on the security of the house.