Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, whoever said this never had a dog

Apr 2, 2025
7 min read

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, Whoever said this never had a dog. A dog offers more genuine and rewarding companionship than material possessions like diamonds.

This is Chintu’s story, written from my viewpoint. Fondly called “Chintu”, also goes by the name “Sheru,” is an 8-year-old Indian mixed breed dog who was adopted by our apartment as a puppy and has stayed with us in the compound area since then. What is so special about a stray dog after all, when people only bother about the status of buying and holding a fancy breed dog? Well, this read may open up your mind to a whole new world of our Indian dogs and the unconditional love they bring.

I inherited my love for dogs from my father, who taught me many other valuable lessons in life at an earlier stage of life. He strongly believed in the loyalty a dog brings to the table, and hence, my entire childhood was spent with dogs in our house.

Arrival and struggle for survival

Around the 2016 rainy season, I moved to this newly constructed apartment occupied by only 10-12 families. During winter time the same year, our apartment security person brought a tiny Indian male puppy barely a month old, wandering around the street. Having seen my attachment with the canine species, he spoke to me, including other key members whether we could shelter him in our apartment, else he may die on the roads without a mother in sight. Eventually, the puppy started living near the security room of the main entry. Our security person stayed with his family inside our apartment, and he started taking care of the puppy, calling him “Sheru”.

Barely a week into his new home, unfortunately, “Sheru” met with an accident caused by a reckless cab driver, which injured his front right leg and forehead. Luckily, he had no broken bones, but was confined to a bandaged leg for a month almost and could not stand much. The hope for his life was minimal, and to make matters worse, he contracted canine distemper disease. Lying on his side, he would wag his little tail and still smile through his hopeful eyes. The puppy took our minimal help to do his daily chores and miraculously started to heal. Later, in the next 2 months, he was already hopping using 3 legs without any further pain. We had assumed he’d never be able to walk again on all 4 legs, however, he proved us all wrong, and by the time he was 6 months old, he started running in the parking slope areas using all his legs. It was like a phoenix rising from the ashes. This whole experience left him with a broken leg that could not be folded till date, a stuttering mouth with crooked teeth, nose secretion and sneezing, restricted physical growth, and a scar on the forehead and leg.

Childhood and teenage

Meanwhile, my heart said I want to call him “Chintu,” as in the Hindi language, it means small/little. I went ahead and bought a new collar and leash for him and started spending time with him whenever I could. Weekend non-veg cuisine would make Chintu very happy, and he is a dog who is open to all kinds of diets. Our apartment people are kind enough to treat him well, and he feeds on rice, roti, curd, eggs, chicken, and fish by many.

Without a dog group and with a weak physique, Chintu started living his life by his means and became a fearless dog. He made a few dog friends at the nearby bakery and shared biscuits with them. In between, he also made friends with a kitten, taking care of it. I have never seen him harming baby birds falling out of their nests. He may chase cats for fun but would never bite them. Nothing on this earth could stop him from living his life to the fullest and being the happiest dog around.

With the doctor's advice, we didn’t vaccinate him as there was a chance he may not survive, his immunity being the lowest then. However, I made sure to comb and bathe him regularly and see that he was not hungry. Time was just flowing by, and I had the greatest company with Chintu at that phase of time. He would not judge me for my looks or financial status, he would not criticize me for my life choices. He would not hold grudges against me, he would smile at me irrespective of his health condition. So yes, a puppy became my best friend in this whole world full of my species of humans.

Adulthood and meeting my husband, Nitin

During COVID-19, Chintu had to face another life-threatening condition, and I witnessed his resilience, tolerance, and patience. Additionally, I would say that his presence gave me a lot of courage to spend those horrific, lonely times with him by my side all the time. Around July 2020, Chintu developed a wound in his hind leg, which was soon infected with maggots. That was when our apartment had strict rules for residents not to walk around the common area, and I could only feed Chintu from my balcony and so missed detecting his condition earlier. So, one rainy evening, me and my neighbor who had a car rushed him to the nearest pet hospital. Chintu got to live another time and was confined to my home for the next 5 days during his antibiotics medicine course. Not even once did he relieve himself in the balcony, and he patiently waited till I took him out. He ate everything that was given to him, along with the medicine.

We know examples of couples abandoning their pet dogs with the birth of a child and individuals leaving their pets if their spouse dislikes. In mid-2021, I met Nitin, and we got married soon after. Nitin was a neutral person with animals, he was a bit fearful but not hateful. I have seen his journey, building a beautiful relationship with Chintu in the last 4 years. He would snap at me if I hurriedly dropped some biscuits for Chintu from our first-floor balcony. Nitin insists on going to the ground floor and feeding Chintu respectfully. He would look for Chintu in the morning to share some rusk for breakfast and would always meet him returning home after a trip.

What makes him so special?

1. When I used to take my office cab in the early morning, Chintu would be present, irrespective of the weather conditions, securing I boarded the vehicle. He would also greet me back home in the evening. He would walk by my side if I walked past the gate after sunset, even though there was a danger to his own life and bigger dogs chasing him.

2. We would chit chat, play hide and seek, run together, chase cats together, rescue baby birds together, relish some biscuits together, and greet my friends to our apartment together. Chintu would just be part of every aspect of life effortlessly, as if he understood my thoughts and language. I am still clueless as to how he does it all.

He understands words like “Stay”, “Don’t” and refrains from jumping on anyone.

3. Chintu has a signature cross-legged seating posture with a slanted look, which would make a few supermodels envious. He speaks to us through his super expressive beautiful eyes and squeaking. Moreover, he never learnt barking since his birth, rather distinctively howls like a wolf.

4. Having survived death twice, he is the gentlest dog that I have ever met. He would not make a sound or movement during vet treatments when other dogs may go mad. We never put a muzzle on him during painful injections either.

5. Chintu knows each resident in the apartment so well that he is merciful with the kids specifically. I have seen toddlers hitting at his face and pulling his ears and tail, and yet he keeps his calm and moves back. He knows children to adults well. I have unknowingly stepped on his paws at times, and yet he does not bite me or anyone else. He is very gentle while eating food from our hands, playing with us so that we are not hurt.

6. Even if he is super hungry, Chintu does not snatch food until we place it in the bowl and also does not growl when I stand next to him. Most times, he would rather leave his food and come to me if I kept standing there. This is very unusual as dogs snarl to protect their food or could potentially bite while eating.

7. He never makes any trouble while bathing, visiting the vet, or combing. As if he has seen struggle and ensures not to give anyone a hard time dealing with him.

8. Nobody taught him this, but he roams around in the basement and the ground floor open walk areas, never entering the resident floor. He goes outside the gate for his business and keeps the apartment surroundings clean.

9. Our apartment gets locked during nighttime as only a single security guard is on duty, who occasionally sleeps on duty. Our Chintu is more reliable who keeps alert near gate area, parking spaces and bark at anyone in sight not known to him. Even when a cab arrives, he barks to alert and calms down upon seeing one of us inside. This has kept us safe, especially during COVID-19 times when theft was on the rise in the apartments due to low occupancy.

10. He warmly welcomes any new member in the family and creates bonding. As of now, he is happier to see Nitin than me being around. Whenever Nitin returns home from the airport at midnight, Chintu will be there to greet and welcome him back, while I’ll be wide asleep at home.

11. Chintu appreciates every moment he spends with us, by being playful and energetic. He is the only living being who shows happiness even if seeing us multiple times in a day. My favorite moment is feeding him some freshly made roti, for which he awaits like the best prize for his good behaviour. People would just throw stale food on the floor, thinking it’s just a street dog. But Chintu will even abandon the best food and come to me for some roti as if he understands love wholeheartedly. He doesn’t have an ego but lots of love in his heart.

12. A so-called animal who is dependent on us for his food and physically weak is so grateful and joyful eternally. No matter how many people mock him for his ugly looks and teeth, it does not bother him.

Now rocking his middle age with some grey moustache hair, Chintu continues his journey of life. He is recently fully vaccinated, dewormed and booked for a complimentary spa treatment at HUFT(Heads Up For Tails) store.

Whenever I am sad for petty reasons in life, I look at Chintu’s face and wonder, “What is my excuse for not being happy when he can be?”.

Don’t we all have some valuable lessons to learn from Chintu?