Pongo waits to jump at the biscuit in Aditya’s hand. (Saradindu Chaudhury)

One day Pongo came up to Aditya Nandi and gave him a wet lick. Wait, make that a wet, blue lick. “Pongo’s tongue was blue and I had no idea why,” says Aditya about his pet. Ten minutes of panic and a thorough investigation later, the Nandis found a chewed up bottle of Robin Blue in the bathroom.

Pongo passed blue stool the next day. “In fact we often find out about his bizarre tastes through his stool,” says Aditya. “The other day out came bits of earthen cups and we realised that he had polished off the bhar as well as the rabri in it. Intact ear buds, bits of my missing deuce balls, chunks my cousin sister’s harem pants…. Pongo will eat everything except his meals.”

The dog is a mix of Labrador and Golden Retriever and has traits of both. “He looks like a Lab at first sight but his snout and coat are both longer than most Labs,” says the Class X student of DPS Ruby Park.

The Nandi joint family has four children and when the dog was first brought home all of them wrote probable names for the pet in chits and placed them before Pongo. “There was a lottery and Pongo himself picked the chit with his name,” smiles Aditya.

The family then introduced Pongo to shows. “Actually we took him twice and both ended with embarrassing consequences,” recalls Aditya, shaking his head.

“His maiden show was a beauty contest for pets and while walking the ramp he held a three-quarter position and crapped in full view of the judges and audience. Still, we mustered courage and took him to a dog show after that. This time he was so naughty that he pulled down the coop allotted to him. That was the last of it.”

Last year was very painful for Pongo. The five-year-old suffered from prolonged fevers, neck pain and loss of vision. “He couldn’t even follow my voice. Pongo is my best friend and I would feel helpless watching him suffer like that,” says Aditya, even as the dog playfully knocks his spectacles off.

“Pongo tries to protect me when I get a shouting from my mother. He apologises to me for his mischief by patting my hand and looking sorry and licks me lovingly whenever I feel down, even if it is with a blue tongue.”

F 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 3pm or email to saltlake@abpmail.com