Delhi: Meet a homeless man who provides shelter to stray dogs

Delhi is known to be a difficult city that hardly seeks a peaceful existence; values are evaporating in the face of consumer society almost on a daily basis. In such a tough city and during such rough times as these, a man who himself is homeless, tries his best to provide shelter to stray dogs; most of whom are either ailing or wounded, or injured by a car recklessly driven with a mix of speed and alcohol.

Dinanath, 64, left his hometown in West Bengal 12 years ago for the capital city. He now lives in a shack adjacent to east Delhi’s garbage house. He wakes up too early in the morning braving the brutal Delhi winter or summer and goes out to feed street dogs in the area.

“I have eight dogs and they all live with me on this cot. Years ago I brought to my place a dog bleeding profusely, apparently hit by a speeding vehicle. I nursed his wound that took months to heal. I allowed him to walk away but he did not leave my side and he is my family now.” Dinanath points out to the one peeping out of a torn quilt under the string cot. All the dogs answer to his calling by name.

During the period of complete lockdown, Nath would be seen standing in serpentine queues for ration and never let his family sleep on an empty stomach. “There are a few animal lovers in the area who provide milk, bread and biscuits for the dogs in here; my dogs do not bite anyone they do bark and keep guard at night.”

The keeper of these dogs gushes with a sincere smile on his parched lips. Dinanath never thinks of going back to his native place fearing what will happen to his family and who will take care of them in his absence. It pains him to see that people are indifferent to the street dogs.

“They are like us and need to be loved and cared. The pandemic triggered lockdown was the time extremely challenging to sustain. I had to walk round the clock to procure food for my family of eight dogs, sometimes the policemen on guard stopped me from doing my job but I did not care about them even beating me.” Tears welled up in his eyes while recounting the recent painful past.