Hirani - How to be human: life lessons from Buddy Hirani

Being a hopeless dog lover, I had always wanted a pup. However, this yearning was never fulfilled because of two reasons that my parents threw at me. Honestly, I didnt even consider them to be that big a deal. The first was that our apartment was too small to accommodate a dog (as if dogs in pet shops dont actually live in cages before finding a home). And secondly, dogs scared the living hell out of my mom. No arguments there.

Well, I tried to move on. I explained to myself that it was not my parents but me who was at fault. I just had way too many expectations. I wiped my tears, trying to accept this until we shifted to a bigger house large enough to accommodate a dog, or even an elephant for that matter.

Since the latter was out of bounds, I prepared a strong case to get a dog, ready to be presented to my parents. This I believed would finally put an end to my indulgence in self-pity. However, all my hopes were flushed down the drain when I learned that the second factor had remained unchanged. Dogs still scared the living hell out of my mom. Short-run problems, I guess. Incidentally, a year later my father needed a pup for a scene in his film PK. Remember the dog that wanted to commit suicide? Dont tell me you havent seen the movie; my dad will find you and haunt you till you watch it. Anyway, since the scene revolved around a suicidal dog, dads team launched a full-fledged search to find the most depressed-looking onethe kind that would make you go aww at first sight, one that would evoke a stabbing sense of sympathy even in the most cold-blooded individual, the kind that would make you feel an irresistible urge to hug the person next to you. After a tremendous hunt, right before everyone touched the peak of insanity with these demanding criteria, dads team found the archetypal dog. His ears were longer than his face. His droopy eyes made him look terribly sad. He had a white patch above his nose that called for immediate pity. He became Nikkuthe cocker spaniel in PK.

Over the next few days, the crew fell in love with him. I would hear about this dog incessantly, and I eagerly waited for relief from school to go to the sets and meet him. I did not have to wait long. One evening, the doorbell rang. I opened the door to blank space, wondering if I had been pranked or if my ears were ringing. To my surprise, I noticed a cushioned basket on the floor in which Nikku lay peacefully. There was a note that read: