The ABC of Tanusmita Chatterjee’s life are Alice, her German Shepherd Dog (GSD), Bruno, her other GSD and Chitresh, her husband. And perhaps in that order too, judging by her love story. 
“My husband and I worked in the same office but didn’t know each other,” says Tanusmita. “Then someone told him that I had a GSD and the next day he came to make friends with me. Then he came home to meet Bruno, who was my dog, and they bonded very well.” 

Chitresh, at this point, avoids Tanusmita’s eye to hint that he may have fallen in love with her dog before he fell in love with her but that’s a different story. 

Alice lived with Chitresh at that time and Tanusmita too grew fond of her. When the couple married in 2013 and moved into Salt Lake, they kept Bruno with them while Alice continued to stay in Chitresh’s parents’ house in Dunlop. “But Alice got ill last year and would only eat when fed by Chitresh so we moved her here with us,” says Tanusmita.

The couple was concerned about how Bruno would feel about sharing his space but luckily the dogs got on famously, even if they are opposites. “Bruno is moody and Alice is tiring biring gonga phoring,” says Tanusmita, trying to calm Alice down yet again. Alice, by the way, is wearing a blue T-shirt that reads “Bad to the Bone.” 
The couple had thought the dogs would be mates but, “Alice is like Menaka and Bruno Vishvamitra,” Tanusmita shrugs. “We might have to look for other mates for them but we really want both their puppies.” 

Tanusmita pampers her “kids” no end. “Chitresh says I am like Gandhari, covering my eyes to the wrong-doings of my children, but I just cannot get myself to scold them. And I’m so paranoid about their health that even if they sneeze once I’ll send poor Chitresh under the bed to give them warm compress all night.”

The doggies love her just as much and can’t bear to be away from her. “We usually we have a round-the-clock domestic help for them but if she’s ever gone and I leave Bruno and Alice alone even for 10 minutes to go to CA Market, I return to see Alice weeping and Bruno trying to console her,” says Tanusmita. 
Brinda Sarkar

If you have a pet you have brought up at home as a family member and which has its eyes only for you, do write to us with your contact number at The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or call 22600115 after 4pm or email to saltlake@abpmail.com