A writer’s memories: When Indira Gandhi’s son rescued and looked after Mridula Garg’s pet dog

He was not the Prime Minister then; only the son living in the Prime Minister’s house. And the dog was just a dog, a beautiful golden cocker spaniel but still a dog belonging to an ordinary family, living in a modest house in Green Park, South Delhi. Then they met; the dog and the Prime Minister’s son on the road to Safdarjung, only the dog had no way of knowing who he was.

It had suddenly gone berserk, broken the leash and run out in frenzy on the road. It would have been run over; the only reason it did not was because a passing motorist was a dog lover. Even though the dog was, by then foaming at the mouth, he picked it up, took it to a doctor and assured by him that it was not rabid but suffering from distemper, took it home.

We looked for our pet, Sonu, all over the neighbourhood and the places he was likely to frequent but to no avail. By nightfall, we gave up the search and by the next morning all hope of finding it. Our two sons, aged ten and eight were hysterical by that time. As a last resort, we went to...

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