It was an unsettling night for Tuffy the grey, speckled Great Dane who had been abandoned at Friendicoes SECA (Society for the Eradication of Cruelty to Animals), the much-loved and respected animal shelter that sits bravely under New Delhi's Defence Colony flyover, rattling and rumbling ominously as cars speed overhead. Unbeknownst to them, a whole teeming world of grace, kindness and compassion exists under the bridge, blossoming with renewed determination every day to offer succour to the most neglected of all living beings — animals. The noisy vibrations have become part and parcel of the place and the animals have learnt to ignore it. Tuffy whined and cried the whole night of October 30, 2011 because he knew instinctively, as only animals can, that his friend and soulmate, Gautam Barat, was breathing his last having reached that transition point between life and death. Gautam had been fighting cancer for the last three years. At the prayer meeting held at the shelter premises, where there were many Friendicoes “regulars,” Tuffy, one ear bent, went from person to person, nuzzling against each one, head down, deep in melancholy, finally flopping down near the chair where Gautam had sat every evening since 1980.
Dynamo of energy
In Gautam's passing, the animals of Delhi have lost a friend and saviour. He was a dynamo of energy and soul-searing, ‘dogged' commitment, so essential for the animal welfare movement which is the most marginalised movement today. Every evening he received animal lovers and pet owners in his canine-lolling durbar, flirting with pretty (and often distressed) women, giving hand-written receipts to donors, listening patiently to the needs of the staff, organising ambulance pick-ups, monitoring vet performances, narrating the life stories of Metro, Moti, Kali, Pepsi and all those lucky canines who found their way to Friendicoes, all the while spewing a dry Gautemesque kind of humour as the inpatients screeched, yelped and bit each other in the back room. In between, he also found time to have a full-blooded robust fight with old-timers to set ‘things right' and railed against those who bad-mouthed the organisation.
“Gautam was a little boy when I met him,” says Geeta Sheshamani, co-founder of Frendicoes Seca. “It was registered in April 1979 and I joined some time in October of the same year. Gautam was a founder member along with his sister Sreelata. I started helping and in 1980 we were given these couple of shops under this flyover. There was no electricity or water. We used to buy a bucket of water for 25 paise. I told Sreelata that I could help with the animals, but did not know how to solve these problems. So Gautam stepped in and slowly started bringing his friends to walk the animals. There was no turning back and we worked together till his death. So it's a long and meaningful friendship. In the early days, Gautam used to protect us women, since there were hardly any people under this flyover.”
As it turned out, Gautam became the backbone of Friendicoes because he enjoyed meeting people, had a great sense of humour, including about his own illness and had a repository of anecdotes that often had us all doubling up with laughter. Uma Menon, associated with Friendicoes for 23 years, recounts an episode where Gautam gave his very first salary to buy a granite tabletop for the OPD because “cleaning up” the shelter was one of his key missions.
Personally, I cannot count the times when I have made SOS calls to Gautam for the Friendicoes ambulance and he responded with alacrity. For many of us, the one factor that gives us the confidence to take care of stray dogs is Friendicoes. It has always opened its doors to us and our distressed animals.
Gruff exterior
Sabina Gadihoke, a regular visitor to the shelter, said, “Gautam had a gruff side to him, and over time, I began to understand it. In fact, I realised that he possibly cultivated it in order to be a better manager and also to not display too much sentiment.” For those of us who were concerned about the callous displacement of stray dogs during the Commonwealth Games, we saw Gautam at his very best, rolling up his sleeves and despite his illness, rising to full efficiency, housing, feeding and fund raising for close to 300 dogs and managing two shelters. One of the most important ingredients in a successful organisation is attention to detail. “Gautam was very approachable, patient and flexible, bending things here and there to accommodate my needs,” says Dr. Prerna, who was the vet at Friendicoes for over a year.
Gautam Barat grew up with animals and always loved them passionately, influenced as he was by Crystal Rogers, the famous animal welfarist. His younger sister Sreelata recalls how he used to pick stray pups off the street and bring them to the shelter and stayed committed to animal welfare ever since. “The last three years has been a struggle with cancer and we are actually relieved that he is put out of his misery and died peacefully in his own bed.”
Go skipping, Gautam, there's a party up there with wagging tails, licks galore, meowing, mooing and neighing. Happy frolicking!
(The author is a writer and editor and gives much of her time to working for animals.)
