Chico, My Boy

Prateik Patil Babbar makes an immediate impression as a sweet, vulnerable and respectful young man. That he is an animal person is written all over him. Simple, straightforward, sensitive and loving. He does have blessings from above, with mum Smita watching over him

- Farzana Contractor

"Is this handsome bloke your first dog?" I found myself asking Prateik, who walked into the room, fresh from a workout. "Oh no, no, no, no, Ma'am," he starts off. "There have been many. In this house itself, there have been two before my Chico. Also, my father has had many, he loves dogs, so I did grow up with dogs around me all my life." And he goes on to rattle off their names; Badshah, Simba, Duke and Gabbar, an Indie who ran away! Quite a variety of breeds, Labrador, German Shepherd, Boxer and Beagle. The two before Chico were both mini Dachshunds. "Mickey and Happy, a light brown and a dark brown, like little sausages! Unfortunately, Mickey had a fall and was administered wrong medications and he passed away. Then we got Happy who really made me happy, he was with me for 13 years. I was about 18 when Happy passed."

Prateik's hero though was Dumbbell, ad man Prahlad Kakkar's dog. This is when Prateik was under Prahlad's wing at Genesis, where he worked doing odd jobs. "We loved Dumbbell, she was everyone's pet. My obsession with dogs actually started with Dumbbell, she was amazing, she used to even help kids cross the road at Tardeo where the office was. From my first memory, maybe when I was three or four, I remember being in Prahlad's house. He is a very close family friend who knew my grandparents."

When he says grandparents, he means, the parents of his ma, Smita Patil, the soulful actress who put the world in shock and gloom when she passed away, soon after delivering Prateik. It is their house that Prateik lives in, at Bandra. Charmingly refurbished to suit Chico and his lifestyle.