In loving memory of मोती

Back in 2012, when I was 11 years old and had just moved to Bangalore, I was still finding my footing in a city that felt lonely and unfamiliar. The culture and language were very different from Ahmedabad, where I'd spent the previous ten years. Around the same time, a stray dog had started hanging around our neighborhood.

He used to get into fights with the neighborhood dogs; I used to get into fights with kids my age. For whatever reason, I felt like we had that in common. I started feeding him every day, and after a particularly nasty fight, I'd sometimes clean and dress his wounds. My mom gave him the name Moti - मोती, which means "pearl" in Hindi. Before long, most of my pocket money was going toward dog food.

We grew so close that whenever I left to catch my school bus, he'd follow me and jump up at me. When I came home nine hours later, he'd greet me with the same enthusiasm. In a new city where I hadn't yet made any friends, this four-legged angel became my first close friend.