Meet the Father of Stray Dogs: Shiv Pal
By Rakesh Raman
Kalu, Golu, Cheeku, Lalu, Jimmy, and Choti are generally the names of Indian kids. But Delhi’s Shiv Pal has given these names to his dogs. He has adopted these abandoned dogs and a few cats who now live with him under a tree alongside a busy Delhi road.
Shiv Pal, 60, is so poor that he doesn’t have any place to live. But he says he is living comfortably on the road with his dogs and cats who are like his own children.
He came to Delhi from another Indian state Madhya Pradesh in 1984 and since then he is taking care of these orphaned animals. He had 40 of them but many died and now he is left with 12 dogs and 6 cats.
But how does he feed the animals? “Some people including my daughter and her husband help me occasionally with money that I use for my own living and to feed these animals,” Shiv Pal informed. He, however, doesn’t live with his daughter.
When I asked him why he can’t similarly help abandoned children instead of helping animals, his reply was “animals are more faithful than humans.” Clichéd but true, I realized.
Now Shiv Pal doesn’t have any means of subsistence but he says he will continue to support the animals. When I asked him if he needs government support (although I know that Indian governments do not help the poor), he said he doesn’t want any support for himself but if people want to help his animals, he will accept it.
Shiv Pal knows everything about his dogs but he doesn’t know anything about India’s Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. So, Modi will be shocked to know that Shiv Pal doesn’t know him and he even didn’t know that Modi is the PM of India. When I showed him Modi’s picture on my device, Shiv Pal said he has not seen this face before. Sorry Mr. Modi, you are not popular among the poor.
“I get peace of mind when I help these animals,” Shiv Pal said. I decided to leave because Shiv Pal was going to give bath to Kalu and Golu. Cheeku had already taken the bath and relaxing under the shade of a tree.
By Rakesh Raman, the managing editor of RMN Company
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