The Kasauli K9 & Mine

An Englishman's love of animals surpasses his all other passions.

They reserve their deepest feelings for dogs and other pets.

That is a fact.

Yes, they were dog  loving people in the Victorian era and even  now England is the most animal friendly nation, and why wouldn't they be, for dogs are the most loyal and best companion anyone can hope for.  It seems  in Kasauli, this old  English hamlet like town , is still not an exception to this dog talk.

Not only do dogs play an important in dynamic in British families ,in our family  too they are not 'like family',  but they are family… and  we consider ourselves as the dog people in entirety. It was a sight to see Hektor and his Papa joust for that little square yard of wintery sunshine in our yellow room every morning, and guess what Hek always wins.Do not believe it , check the picture. 
 Breakfast daily  is still our family scene and a scramble for toast fingers dipped in egg yolk happens sometimes ,however it is mainly a very disciplined affair as you can see in the picture.   In our family our dogs are special, they are often the profile photo on our family Whats App group. And I have a  ‘Heads & Tails’ page on Facebook . 

A Family Breakfast

Dogs are amazing, they are expressive, emotive and can read human emotions. They can be truly loving and loyal companions for life and naturally attach themselves to the family pack and my husband and I as the Pet-parents are the pack leader. 
Though  I suppose my Golden Labrador ,Sirius, would be deeply affronted if he was not ' the people'.

The stories are my anecdotal Canine antics ,now we begin with the dog story of Kasauli, this beautiful little gem hidden away in the Shivalik hills that became the summer haven of the British Raj in 1842… The life of hope and love of a handful of settlers, and their families and pets can be discerned from memorials and plaques that we see resurrected  here,

Daarji Revisited.

 My funny curious mind notices the inane and the innocuous, things that many pass by every day, without even a second glance.

The   Y-junction of Upper Mall with Lower Mall is about the most happening place to sit and have tea along with the quirky ‘samosa buns’ and watch ‘The Mall’ sashay along smoothly down into a cobbled winding street of Kasauli Bazaar. That was the first day and we are the outside people.

Though by second day the locals would acknowledge your presence and flash a warm smile and greeting as they pass by the Mall to the cobbled purana bazaar. The day next is story time, you are accepted as a regular and people sit or stand around, and warmly we chat along on this and that over a hot cup of tea. . Sitting where I was, opposite ‘Kalyan Hotel’ was a statue of a dog…..a black retriever…with nose trifle too long and a trifle upturned.

Man’s Best Friend.                                        

Curiosity inevitably gets the better of me and I casually inquired on the story of the Black retriever dog …cast for posterity.

Was it a memorial? 

Who did it belong to and more…

Being an out and out ‘dog person’ it intrigued me to probe on….The more I delved into the past the lesser I could get out of any one….the shop keepers, the present owners of ‘Kalyan Hotel’….and even the locals passing by. Not one person could tell the dog story; it was with great social networking that I got the fragmented minutiae to put together.

It seems Kalyan Hotel in the era gone by was known as ‘B Kalicharan & Sons’ ,The chemists and druggists….it was  focal point for members of 'The Raj'. Seth ji, that is  B Kalicharan was the richest land owner I was told. Another interesting trivia was added by the owner of ‘Paan and cigarette shop…as per his colourful account, Sethji was so influential that when he took a walk on ‘The Mall’ the DC…a representative of the Queen walked behind him. Well….that’s the way he told me.

So coming back to Kalyan Hotel, the erstwhile ‘B Kalicharan & Sons’ and the dog statue….

It so happens one night  some night raiders thought they would decamp with all  imported goodies and English Wines ,Liquor and cash that they could find ….In those days Druggists were the ex officio  Wine shop licensees. The dog saw the burglary in progress and attacked the robbers who ran out with whatever booty they could collect and abandoned  the rest behind. Our little hero not to outdone went and woke up his masters and not only that …I am told he led them to the burglars den and these hapless creatures were caught just as they were dividing the booty.

I was told that the little chap had become the hero overnight. An English  patron of the shop….evidently he must be a ‘dog person’…..sent the lil’ hero’s picture to a bronze foundry in North Devon England…..a wax reproduction of the sculpture was created, given a ceramic shell. The wax is replaced with molten bronze and an enduring sculpture was born. The sculpture was shipped back and installed presumably as a memorial to ‘Man’s best friend’.

But then this is nothing new in the unconditional love and companionship they provide us that has earned them the title "Man's Best Friend" for over a century now. Dogs rarely disappoint us which is apparent by the countless stories we hear about their acts of heroism.

But then acts of vandalism is man's second nature…..some miscreants  broke away the little hero’s nose……defaced him….and he had to get a new  nose job….evidently not a good one ,for his snout is too long and  too up turned for a retriever. His eyes I heard were of a warm glistening brown stone...again these were gouged out. Today the eyes appear weird...painted white.

 I still could not get his name….perhaps somebody reading this will be able to tell me. Perhaps one day he can have proper pedestal and memorial plaque……And go on to become a tourist stop of Kasauli.  Mounted on a decrepit platform outside the Sethji’s erstwhile shop he sits today a eulogy, as Daarji very aptly said, "Man's Best Friend".

Benzer of the Kastle

A stone’s throw away from the Kalyan hotel is Kastle Resort....They had German Shepherd called Benzer and we forged a great rapport with him. He used to sit majestically on a parapet driving the monkeys out...who used to terrify  the customers of the outdoor café  of the resort. This was Benzer’s hate-hate relationship with the simians.

But then one day it so happened that he saw a baby monkey being relentlessly bullied by larger monkeys. And the little waif   was cowering behind the big red bottle cooler.  Benzer, true to breed was chivalrous and he must have thought that he had to do what he was good at and become the guardian  angel, or the other monkeys would kill the little orphan. Thus he became Benzer the knight in shining armour for the little waif.

Now whenever the baby monkey gets chased, the belligerent knights’ angry charge    drives them helter skelter. And the baby monkey was also not to be underestimated. Each time he whiffs signs of danger he jumps piggy back on Benzer and holds on tight.

Unhappy with the loss of face the grand-dad monkey tried many a time to set up some kind of an ambush…This alpha male monkey was furious, as all their plots failed because of Benzer.

The Alpha Male

 Wow!  Was it not full Bollywood pot-boiler unfolding between Benzer and monkey family? That was many years ago, I couldn’t get any update on how the dog and monkey thing worked out.

 Or if they are still together.

 Please let me know if you have any further information.