Karuppi

Meet Karuppi, an indie who adopted us . Yep. She turned up at our doorstep about 2 years ago and refused to leave. Here is the part of her story that I know.

It was the beginning of June 2024 and I was returning home from my soul-searching trip in the hills. During my travel back, I distinctly remember looking at the picture of the dog “Karuppi” from Pariyerum Perumal (it was my wallpaper then), and thinking to myself “I’d want a dog like this one day…” Many would say this is an afterthought, but I still remember how shocked I was months later when I recalled that I had put this wish out into the universe - the universe had granted my wish but did I do it justice? I sit with this question till date.

As I was walking home, I saw her sitting right outside our doorstep and wondered out loud “Who is this dog?” M who was walking with me peered over my shoulder, urgently and curiously, “Dog aa? Where? …. Oh my god! Do you know her or him?”

I had no idea who she was then! There was a pile of garbage she was sitting next to. Knowing how resource-guard-y some dogs get with what they believe is theirs, I cautiously avoided touching the garbage or her, carefully opened the door to my house and got inside, while maintaining eye contact with her. Throughout this interaction-of-sorts I don’t remember her flinching - she was sitting as if that part of the house belonged to her.

M and I got inside and began wondering who she was and how she came here. We observed her from inside the house through a window with a big, playful smile playing on both our lips - should we name her? - same thought running through both our minds.

“Rasathi?”

“Umm.. No, doesn’t seem to suit her” (we figured out her sex by now)

“Dharma? Maari?”

“Hmmm…”

“OH! I know - KARUPPI!”

And M smiled ear-to-ear - YES!

We both had discussed Pariyerum Perumaal in detail just a few months ago and how we felt about Karuppi in that movie. So it only seemed fitting that we name her that. Months later when that recollection of my wish to the universe hit me, I knew - she was Karuppi.

This is the song dedicated to PP-Karuppi in the film (spoiler warning, if you plan to watch the film anytime):

In the film, the dog is integral to the story even though her appearance is short. This song captures that so powerfully that I wish the listeners understood tamil for just the duration of the song and feel it. There is one line that feels like it was written for My Karuppi and me: “Naay illa di nee, Naan illaya nee?” - You are not a dog, but an extension of me, right?

To understand why this resonates I should explain my parents’ complicated relationship with her.

Shortly before she waltzed into our lives, M and I had decided to move in together - which my parents did not respond to very well.

Shortly after she waltzed in & I moved out of my parents’, my parents (who up until that point saw her as my dog), started seeing her as theirs.

They were not ready for a third daughter - hell, they wanted to be grandparents, not relive parenthood with a furbaby. But they were not going to shoo away a “vaayilla jeevan” (a voiceless life) from their home if she came their seeking shelter - at least that’s what they told me. However, I know that she was now their “something to care and protect” while their adult daughter was leaving the nest.

And I believe it definitely helped that she exhibited similar qualities as me, at least according to M and my mum - possessive about my mum , wants love and cuddles but takes her space loudly and proudly, gets bored easily, dislikes most men (ty trauma), loves crispy dosa bits and curd rice, extremely independent but most visibly: anxious about a lot of things in life. The list goes on... If all this was not a coincidence, then she is most surely an extension of me.

Hence: Naan illaya nee?

In retrospect, I feel like she actually came there for my parents and not me - to be that protector, look out for them in my absence, show love with wags and licks, follow them around because they are her parents now.

But how did she end up at our house in the first place? Here, I wish the universe had been a lot kinder to her.

After doing some detective work, we found out that she had been raised in a house with humans who she thought were hers. But the landlords had apparently said no to dogs. Since she had started going into heat, they supposedly did not know how to manage her. So they sent her out into the streets.

When I found her outside ours, I had no idea about this origin story - I thought she was a streetie who came home because of the garbage piled outside. Then, when I saw how she ran to Pujari uncle, I thought she came because he comes home often. When I saw how she was not able to protect herself from other male dogs, I thought it was because she was not part of a pack yet. But when I learnt about her origin story, so much of her anxious behaviour started making sense to me.

The poor furbaby was abandoned when she needed protection the most.

Despite that, she learnt to trust humans again in our home - not all of them, obviously, but a lot more of them compared to the last 2 years. I cannot tell you how happy and proud that makes me. It makes my parents happier, too.

So are my parents her parents now?

Yes and No.

She spends half her time at home and half outside. She is a streetie and homie. She is fed by us for the most part. She takes care of her business otherwise. She sleeps at home, protects us and is protected by us. My parents worry about her when they are away, but are not ready to take her on walks. We get her vaccinated and they give her a bath, but are annoyed when she follows them out of the house.

Like I said, it’s a complicated relationship. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

M & I have considered adopting her multiple times - making her ours. But given the circumstances we live in, we always come to the conclusion that uprooting Karuppi from her comfort zone to rid ourselves of our guilt of taking care of her, did not make sense.

In an ideal world, she would be taken on walks by my parents while chasing squirrels, put in a boarding when they are away and make dog-friends, watch movies with my parents and walk with them everywhere. OR M&I would have moved into a pet-friendly neighbourhood and taken her with us.

But if I were being honest, in an ideal world, her original care-takers (I refuse to use the word parents for them), would not have abandoned her - they would have moved houses to accommodate her as she is family. Or they would have gotten her adopted and not let her out into the streets.

These What-IF scenarios are endless and perhaps pointless right now. Karuppi is not your typical dog. She lives life on her terms. She may not chase squirrels on walks, but she chases birds in our house terrace, eats their food, made a few dog-friends in the neighbouring street and sleeps like a human in her dog-bed!

So while Karuppi doesn’t live an ideal life, she lives a peaceful one. And for now, I will make my peace with that.

Do you have stories of how your furbaby ended up with you? What were your struggles?

“On the other side of fear, is freedom”