An obituary to Majestic Mansion:Continued...Kalu
Kalu was a black, desi (Indian) dog. He looked scary because of his big size and jet black complexion but actually he was a very tame fellow. Kalu never went out of the Majestic Mansion. Ravi, the caretaker of the Majestic Mansion told that kalu came here as a puppy. He didn’t even dare to go out to fight with the other dogs outside the Majestic Mansion. But yes, Kalu's barking was really commensurate with his appearance. His barking, deep and somber, echoed around the old walls in Majestic Mansion. Sometimes, amidst the hymn of the pigeons, in lonely afternoons the sound did create an eerie feeling. But generally we laughed and used to say that Kalu might have seen a mouse again. Everybody loved Kalu. So he never had to worry about his food.
Kalu knew that Abhishek (my room-mate) invariably carried some foodstuffs when he returned from his office, late in the night. kalu used to come along with him and sit quietly and waited patiently in front of the door. As I told earlier, he was a thorough gentleman. Kalu never tried to come inside the room, neither did he bark. He would be in his own world;busy with himself. He would go silently once he satisfied his saliva. Kalu used to have his dinner in our dada’s (elder brother) flat. He would have his nap in front of their door in the evening. After his nap, Kalu would start pushing the door with his head slowly to anounce that he was hungry.
Few days before we left the Majestic Mansion, Debu (another room-mate) and I went to that dada’s flat. While we were chatting, suddenly the half-closed door opened. I thought it was Kalu and about to ask jethima(aunt) , kalu eshe geche khabar jonye (kalu had come for the dinner), then I realized, it was done by the wind, not Kalu. But that reminded me, I hadn’t seen Kalu for the last few days. I asked jethima and Arindam da,” where is kalu?”. They looked down. I asked again-“what happen?” Then Arindam da said, the dog-catcher squad of the Municipal Corporation took him away. “what?”-I was shocked. Then I heard the complete story. Someone from the Majestic Mansion only, called up the Municipality and alleged that Kalu had become a mad dog. He started biting people. The dog-catcher squad came in one afternoon and took him away. Ravi was not there. Jethima was sleeping and she didn’t know anything. It was Kalu’s destiny. Ravi went to search for Kalu in the Municipality. But he didn’t find him. So either Kalu was killed by the lethal injection or he would have been left outside the city in a dump yard. In either way he was going to die. Because even if he was not killed by lethal injection he would be killed gruesomely by the real mad dogs over there in the dump yard.
Kalu had lead a peaceful and sheltered life all along . He didn’t know how to fight. He was old and might have lived another couple of years. So I asked Arindam da, what was the motive behind this? He said, the person whom he suspected, was a woman who stayed just below their flat. She came to Majestic Mansion few months ago. She was a teacher, so a number of students came to her flat to take tuitions. Some of them might have complained about poor Kalu to her because he used to sit on the steps for most of the day.
