My mother looked at the puppy and said, “Jimmy”. Thus the 10 day old Dachshund  was  christened. We have been having pet dogs one after the other, but a 10 day old pup was something very unique for all of us. Initially it did not open its eyes, cried a lot and created nuisance all over the place.

Gradually it developed a likingness for the place and people around him. Jimmy grew up to be an extremely intelligent dog. Above all, his sense of timing was amazing. He would know when exactly my sisters and I would return from our school and college and would wait at the main gate. Likewise, in the evening he would wait for my father to return from his office. The click of the main gate knob would never miss his powerful ears and he would start wagging his tail as a welcome gesture. He would jump on the sofa and from there climb onto the table on which my father used to put his bag, sniff his bag and would not rest till he patted his head. Jimmy had short legs and a long torso with long ears. Two brown patches, one above each eyebrow, on a glistening black body made him look very special. He would never enter our kitchen, but would sit on the threshold and patiently wait for his bread to appear. If not hungry, then he would hide his bread under his rag or beneath the chair so that the pigeons or crows do not find it easily. He used to patiently wait outside the puja room as he knew that he would be the first recipient of prasad from my mother after she finishes her puja.

In winters, when we  put our quilts in  the sun, he would follow suit with his rag. Post afternoon was the time for his exercise. He would start running from one end of our long verandah, reach the other end, use his fore legs as brakes, turn around and repeat the cycle. He would do so for half an hour without any interruption. We all wondered from where did he learn all these.

We all watched him grow for 10 years, becoming more responsible day by day. Loved and cared by all.

Then he waned and withered away in the morning of 24th Aug 1992.

Fifteen long years have passed thence, but Jimmy is as active in our memories even today as he was in his physical form.