With the onset of the monsoons, my cynical, worried self takes over. With gutters overflowing, roads flooded, where will the strays of Calcutta go? But Calcutta has a heart! I spoke to three different sets of people. What they do for strays is more than any of us can ever take on.

First, music composer Debojyoti Mishra and his wife, singer Paroma Banerji. Every monsoon, the roads in their area (Lake Gardens) get flooded. The husband-wife duo puts chatais on the floor, sets aside warm bowls of milk and takes in the stray dogs of their area.

As Paroma puts it: “Not once during their stay have the dogs dirtied the house.” Mishad, their eight-month-old son, shares his bed with Chhotu, their pariah. Paroma and Debojyoti believe compassion towards animals is the most valuable lesson they can teach their son.

On the June the 13th it was pouring. In the bylanes of Sinthee, Bishikh Talukdar found a stranded Alsatian. The dog was old, hungry and scared. He had been abandoned. Bishikh housed the dog in his cyber café for five days and got the animal a home in the Ashari animal shelter.

Poornima Toolsidas and Debashish Chakraborty (People for Animals, Calcutta) have set up a Puppy House where puppies and their mothers are kept during the monsoon and returned to their respective areas after the rains subside.

Please do your bit. Let the animals seek refuge in your garage, the verandah of your house or in your building compound. During the rains they can’t find food; give them milk and biscuits. It’s really not asking for too much, especially when you sip hot coffee in the confines of your home, admiring the ‘pitter-patter’ while the rains play havoc in the lives of the animal fraternity.