Lucifer, Tia's Angel

The Toy Poodle entered their lives in the most unusual of ways and took their hearts by storm. Tia Jasra, the quiet daughter, got her dream- come- true puppy and Bhavna, the mum, fell for him without even knowing it. Lucifer is a real angel in disguise

- Farzana Contractor

I have met many young kids who said they had to cry and beg and throw tantrums, wait and wait and wait before they finally managed to convince their parents, more especially their mum, before they could get a puppy home.

But with the Jasras, it takes the cake! Their only child, Tia, had to wait 15 long years before they relented. And for the sake of record, they didn’t really relent, the daughter actually just went ahead when she turned 18, clandestinely connected with a breeder in Delhi, had it sent to Bombay and sprung it on them! She had had enough. She had been yearning for a puppy since she was three! That really is a long, long time to wait.

So what's the story?

Bhavna, the mum begins, “Look, to start with, I am really sad that I deprived my daughter for so many years of her life for just a dog. But, honestly since I never had a pet in my life I didn’t understand.

The idea of having a dog didn’t gel with me. All the fur in the house, on your upholstery, your clothes, muddy paws, that distinct smell in the house, you know how it is, the whiff that hits you when you enter a house which has a dog...” “Whiff, what whiff?” Both Tia and I cut in on her, almost in unison and knew instantly we were both on the same side!

“Look, look,” defended Bhavna, “I am just being honest. I was never a pet person, definitely not a dog lover. I couldn’t feel what Tia felt. So I am sorry I just couldn’t give in to her pleas. In spite of the fact that every birthday of hers when Gautam, my husband who I call Jo, would ask Tia, who I call Joey, what she wanted, she would say, ‘A dog’, and I would reply, ‘Anything, BUT.”

“Hang on, hang on mum,” interjects Tia, “My begging was not exclusive to my birthdays, I would make the same fervent plea to you at Christmas, on Diwali; any important occasion and I was there begging for a dog!”