delhi

Updated: Feb 12, 2018 11:07 IST

The little black dog just doesn’t bark.

“Hamara bachcha (our child)!” declares Nisha. Her husband, Chandrabhan, nods. We bump into the couple one morning in a market lane in central Delhi. The shops are still to open. The dog is chained to Chandrabhan’s flashy yellow cane.

“This danda is just to scare off the streets dogs run who come after Sheru… you see, he is just a few months old… we want him to be safe.”

The couple say they spend the day walking across the city. “We never beg… if people give us some money, then it’s fine… if not, then too it’s fine.”

They had got the dog late last year from Panipat, where they gone to visit a relative. “We picked up Sheru from his mataji (mother),” says Nisha. Chandrabhan explains that “mataji” died leaving behind three or four puppies. Sheru was one of them.

Sheru is still too young to eat anything solid so his human parents feed him with “Mother Dairy milk and with 50-50 biscuits.”

When we gush over the pup’s colourful jacket, they tell us they had bought it for Rs 25 from a street vendor.

On our request, the couple agree to pose for a formal family portrait. While parting, we mutter something about the expenses of raising a pet.

Nisha laughs while Chandrabhan seems to ponder for a moment before saying, “We live on the footpath… God gives us enough to survive… we are sure he will also provide for our Sheru.”