The Fourth Member

To Sultan goes the credit for making me reach the mindset that Man and his best friend can share the same roof. Until my association with him, I for one felt that our four legged friends belonged to the out doors. Frankly speaking I have never had a pet while growing up and hence never understood the joy they could give and how much they could enrich ones life. My husband has had dogs in his growing up years. It was common in Kerala to have a couple of mutts roaming around the compound, which in most cases was very vast. Their interaction with the senior members of the household was minimal. Nothing out of the way was done for their upkeep and well being and they just grew, lived and died. This was not the case with my husband who had fond memories of Joy, Tommy and another Sultan.

The credited Sultan belonged to my friends Rathi and Mohan who lived in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. He was a beautiful German Shepherd with a balanced mind set. I met him first when I was visiting Khobar from Jeddah, and even after 17 years the fears and trepidation I felt during my ride from the airport to the house seems so fresh. I was instructed by Mohan as how to behave and how to get him on to my side. All my worries were in vain as Sultan was a sweet heart and in my first trip itself I became his friend.

On seeing my interaction with Sultan, my husband Kumar felt he could raise the topic of having a pet with me. As we were living in an apartment and frequently traveling, it seemed impossible to have one while in Saudi Arabia. However I promised him that on our return to India we could go ahead and have a pet. (Although they are meant to be called DOGS, my husband just abhors calling them thus.)

We relocated to Chennai in March of 1995 and after the initial hassles of settling down and seeking employment; it was time to bring home our best friend. As for me Sultan was the yard stick to go by and hence the automatic choice was a German Shepherd. We zeroed in on a breeder and on a Sunday evening in November of 1995 both of us went to bring our friend and according to my husband OUR SON home. (Our daughter came into our lives a couple of years later.) While relocating from Saudi to India, we happened to spend couple of months in the US and that was the period of the O.J. Simpson case and his lawyer Johnny Cochran was the toast of the media. Hence Kumar had decided that our son would be called Cochran because it stood for efficiency and smartness. I was apprehensive about the name however towed along. My confusion was short lived as my Dad suggested we call our son PRINCE. Since Prince and Sultan belonged to the same genre, I gladly grabbed the idea.

The litter had six and according to the Vet he was the pick. Since we wanted nothing less, we decided to make him ours. He was a cuddly black ball weighing less than a kilo and about 5 weeks of age. He seemed to respond to his majestic name from day one itself. I had organized a large cardboard carton for him to rest. As night approached we lined the box and prepared it for his sleep. When I thought I had things under control, my husband let out a missile, by saying that Prince will share our bedroom. Now this was not something I was prepared for. Sharing a home is fine, but not sharing a bedroom and a bed. Although I never thought of him as someone who would watch over us and stand at the gate, it seemed totally out of place to have him in the bedroom. According to me nature has given each of us a place and that we should not over step. With much hesitation I took him up on day 1. The next day when we were discussing Prince, his sleeping arrangement and how I felt about it, a friend came up with a very good idea. He suggested we have him in the bedroom till his ears stood erect. I jumped at the suggestion and my husband unwillingly gave in. A German Shepherd is known by his upright ears and so I felt it was matter of maybe 3-6 months.

Prince lived the life of a true Prince; he slept in our bedroom till the last day of his life. It was not that I gave into my husband’s wishes or changed my mind. The eternal wait for the ears to stand erect was in vain. His ears remained floppy right through. This however added a touch of softness to his otherwise regal character. Spending so much time with him in the bedroom, my interaction with him was far greater. I took it in my psyche that a Prince will always be the fourth member of our family. May be it was the Creator’s way of making me appreciate more of his creations. Although the loss felt at Prince’s demise was unbearable, the only thing to bring us out of the grief was to get Prince Junior. With a young daughter we thought it fit to go for a docile and family oriented pet and hence zoomed in on a Labrador Retriever. He has been with us for the last 6 years and as for his character all I can say is that he is a shade better than MARLEY!!!!!!