Offer Kitkat some rice, and while he might not eat it, he’ll definitely take it. He’ll then dash up to the terrace with his parcel for a little business transaction. “He gives the rice to the crows, and in return, they bring him chicken bones from all over!” says Pratap Chandra Dutta in admiration.

Kitkat was born under the family’s building with his siblings, but two of them were run over by cars. The residents brought Kitkat and Cadbury into their compound, but they kept going missing, and Cadbury was finally kidnapped by an app-cab driver. After that, the family decided to bring Kitkat inside to live with them.

He’s a very well-trained dog and won’t relieve himself indoors under any circumstances. “On the day of cyclone Amphan, he was in agony with a full bladder but wouldn’t even go to the bathroom. Only after the storm eased for a bit did he dash to the terrace to pee,” recalls Dutta.

Kitkat is well cared for. Dutta hand-feeds him lunch, gives him a massage before baths, and when he was a puppy, would feed him milk using the same jhinuk they’d used for his daughter as a baby! Kitkat loves bananas, but once he threw up after eating one from a local vendor. “I never went back to that shop again. Now, I only get him tree-ripened bananas from Ultadanga,” says the retired BSNL officer. “And on Saturdays, we burn chillies to ward off the evil eye so no one can jinx him.”

Kitkat is as attached to the family as they are to him and can’t stand being away from them for a moment. “Once we went shopping and asked the neighbours to keep an eye on him. He howled, threw up, and even got a fever by the time we got back a couple of hours later,” shudders Dutta. “Now, I barely go out so I can be with him.”

His wife, Kakuli, recently went to Puri and brought back a 12-year-old’s panjabi for Kitkat. “He’ll wear it for Bhai Phonta,” she smiles. Incidentally, their daughter Madhumanti just tied a rakhi on his wrist last month. “He wears new clothes for the Pujas too, even if he only dons them and sits in the balcony.”

If Kitkat wants to sleep, he’ll stare expectantly at the AC, fan, and mosquito repellent until they’re all switched on. “On Lakshmi puja days, he knows we’ll be making luchi, so he waits by the kitchen for a little treat. We only give him a tiny bit, as it’s not advisable for dogs, but he’ll steal bananas from the puja room,” says Dutta. “We don’t mind, as we know Kitkat is the purest soul and a beloved of God.”