Bozo has been lucky for Diya Das. Of course, she has become a great companion and loyal friend but the Labrador’s entry to the house, quite literally, saved Diya’s life.

“Bozo was a birthday gift for me from my friends,” says Diya. “They had dropped hints beforehand and so I had braced my parents for it and then on my birthday — January 12 — in 2020, my friends took me to the breeder to bring home the puppy. That’s when he happened.”

While Diya was away, the fan in her room caught fire. “When we returned to our block, neighbours, rickshaw drivers, strangers everyone started telling me about the fire at home. My father had burnt his hands in trying to douse it and had been taken to the hospital. My room was charred beyond recognition,” Diya still shivers at the memory. “I’m usually a late riser and would have been fast asleep in my room when the accident happened, if it wasn’t for the trip to get Bozo.”

While the Lab’s welcome to the house was disorienting, she took a liking to it straight away. “Nothing remained intact in my room, but Bozo knew that’s where I stayed and kept running into it,” Diya recalls. She has since got a tattoo of paws on an infinity sign on her wrist as a token of her love for the Lab.

The dog wasn’t professionally trained but has been naturally well-behaved from the start. She only relieves herself in washrooms, and turns to Diya for approval before eating anything new. “Although my parents spoil her rotten!” she complains. “My mother looks at her puppy dog eyes and gives her bits of whatever she’s eating.”

Diya is the one who disciplines her. “We have a video where Bozo is happily tearing my mother’s plants in the balcony without a care in the world but the minute she turns around and sees me watching, hangs her head, tucks in her tail, and walks away quietly,” she laughs.

Bozo sleeps on Diya’s bed – in fact, they share a pillow – and she snores! “Plus, she sleeps with her four legs up in the air,” Diya laughs. “She used to wake me up early in the morning but I scolded her once and she never does it again.”

Bozo also had a habit of running out of the house and into the street till another earful from Diya put an end to it. “Then one day, my mother opened the door for a salesman, and Bozo slipped out without anyone noticing. Much later, when she couldn’t find Bozo, she opened the door to check outside and saw what had happened,” Diya narrates. “When Bozo realised she had got locked outside, she didn’t panic. Nor did she run away. She simply sat by the door in silence, confident that her family would let her back with open arms.”