The stray community

Delhi has its share of people who rally against strays, but streeties also have a way of bringing people together

- Pooja Singh

Raghu is refusing to eat his lunch—a bowl of rice mixed with boiled vegetables. He sniffs it and returns to his spot in a corner of Delhi’s Khan Market. “Chicken nahi hai na aaj (there’s no chicken today),” says Meenakshi Yadav, giving Raghu, a visibly overweight nine-year-old street dog, a gentle slap. A few minutes later, he’s emptied the bowl.

Yadav, who works as a cleaning lady in a shop in Khan Market, travels 30km every day from the outskirts of Delhi to reach her workplace. Alongside her own lunch, she carries food for five stray dogs, including Raghu—all brothers who have lived outside the shop since they were puppies. Though Yadav is a vegetarian, she brings them chicken once a week. On some days, Rajkumar Mishra, the guard at a neighbouring shop, brings chicken for them.

“[used to throw stones at them when I joined here (in 2021)... I was always scared of dogs,” Mishra says. “Now, the guards from other shops (in the same lane) and I sit with them (at 4pm) to share tea and biscuits.”