It’s been a year since Hero departed for the happy hunting grounds. I was thinking about how he was selective in giving love and, probably as a result, how his love was particularly cherished by those whom he chose to give it to.
For those who didn’t know him, he came with a bit of a fearsome reputation – our standard instruction to strangers was “isko mat chhoona”. He had even taken a nip of some people whom he took inexplicable objection to, including a few friends.
But when he made friends, he did it heart and soul. This post is for those to whom he gave those. I couldn’t find photos of him with every one who was on that list, but most are here.
His greatest love was always Anjali. Playing with her after we returned from one of our trips.
Listening to Mahalaya with Ma at Radio House, Olaulim.
https://youtu.be/Rvixzo8ptI0
Having grown up with our niece Pakhi (sadly, couldn’t find any good photos of the two of them together, or even of my brother Orijit with Hero), he seemed to always have a soft spot for young girls. Here he is with my grand-niece Sia – who was allowed to do just about anything to him – and her toy Tigger.
The key to his acceptance seemed to be one of two things – either you travelled somewhere with him, or you slept in his house.
One of the most astonishing early episodes in a life full of incident was when my brother’s dog Vanilla (later renamed Kaju) was recuperating at our place from a mauling he had received at the fangs of a larger dog. Hero, at the time about 8 months old, took him under his wing and, we believe, played a big part in his quick recovery. Of course, Kaju himself is a spunky dog who shook off the life-threatening injuries very quickly and had a ball with our four larger dogs.
Some videos of Hero and Vanilla mock-tussling in the warm winter sun at our Noida residence.
Of all the dogs that we had, Jaya was a special favourite of Hero’s. Both were of a rambunctious bent of mind, and loved to get up to shenanigans together.
To circle back to the beginning of this post, Anjali was the sun in his life. Though these photos are rather dark and have motion blur, I really love this series.
Barking Mad 
Thanks for this, Annie. Brought back a whole slew of memories. The number of journeys made with Hero…(!) He was a person who we’ve clocked so many miles with. A true travelling companion.