When Aparna Roy got a Labrador puppy, she knew she had to name him Atmaram. “I had just lost my previous dog Tashi and I thought Tashi’s soul was in this puppy,” says Aparna. “Now I know that couldn’t be further from the truth. Tashi was as calm as Atmaram is restless.”
Aparna is a yoga teacher and Atmaram was a birthday gift from one of her students two years ago.
Atmaram does not do yoga but loves watching people do it. “I close my eyes and begin a surya namaskar; I open my eyes midway and find him sitting nose-to-nose with me,” laughs Aparna. “Most yoga postures are inspired by those of animals. The upward-facing-dog asana, for instance, is just how Atmaram stretches. It’s very good for the spine.”
Aparna says her Lab is a tornado. Why, earlier this year he even jumped on Aparna’s mother such that she fell and broke her leg. But Aparna has discovered a way to calm him down. “If I chant mantras he quietens instantly,” says Aparna, offering a demonstration.
It works. The dog who had been jumping on the couch, and off it, and on all the people around him, stands quietly for a minute and then sits down, facing Aparna. “He also loves a kirtan called Atmarama anand ramana. I guess he thinks that’s his song,” Aparna smiles. The calmness lingers for a while after the chanting ends.
The Lab is fawn-coloured but has a black spot on his left foreleg. “He’s also a leftie. He offers his left paw for everything, even a handshake,” says Aparna, as Atmaram’s left paw nudges her, asking to be petted.
Atmaram leads a disciplined life — early to bed, early to rise. He eats a balanced diet and avoids junk food. He plays with Odie, the cat who comes calling, and with the stray dogs of the neighbourhood. And while he likes the good life, he loves people more.
“He leaves the AC bedroom in peak summer and comes to the yoga room for my company. Rather, to give me company,” says Aparna gratefully. “If I’m moping about he comes, pushes me half out of my chair and just sits leaning against me. It’s his way of saying that he may not be able to solve my problems but he’s there for me,” smiles Aparna.
Atmaram really is the soul of this house.
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
