Memorial for Rabbit: Family’s Love for Pet Comes Alive Through a Grave

In this age of Nano technology, this micro grave might appear tiny in comparison to the greats like Taj Mahal, the epitome of love, but the small and beautiful memorial for a rabbit inside People For Animal’s (PFA) Ransinghpur campus near the AIIMS in Bhubaneswar tells a tale of the divine relationship between a lovely pet and its caring family.

It is said that relationships are made in heaven and a gift from God. The rabbit of banker Kallol Nandy’s family was never a mere pet for them. It was their child and perhaps for that reason, they have written on the grave…..“Papa, Mama..Bhailu.’’

Kallol and his wife Sulagna Sen adopted the bunny from Galiff Street in Kolkata on August 31, 2008, and without knowing its gender named it Julie. A little more than two months after rediscovering its gender, they again changed the name and started calling `her’ Babu, but strangely, it responded to both names.

Oganisers at PFA, especially its Secretary Amulya Kumar Nayak, were also very supportive of the idea to have the memorial erected on their campus. “They gave our pet a fantastic burial place, just beneath the trees. Even during peak summer months, there is a gentle breeze at the spot. Babu/Julie has got the best place to rest, near the wall, as in our house his favourite places were always by the wall,’’ says Sulagna.

The plant-eating pet had never lived in a cage, except for the first few nights when it was too small and the family was afraid that the pet might get lost! Also the fact that the family had to feed him every two hours at night (like a human baby) and it would have been difficult to find him.

When the bunny was about 4 months old, his leg got fractured while jumping and the doctor advised him ‘complete bed rest’ for a fortnight. The family had to custom-make a small wooden box with grills and top open to restrict his movement. Such was the bond.

Apart from those emergency days, the pet had his own room to stay and the entire house to roam around. Being an exotic and delicate animal extremely sensitive to heat, he always had the air-conditioner on in his room. He had his set of carpets to sleep on, his own food plates and his own area to litter.

Interestingly, the rabbit lived on two staple diets – carrots and ‘kalama saag’. Without these two items his health would deteriorate. However, he also liked biscuits of a particular brand and never tasted any other product. He loved noddles (he would come to the kitchen immediately when it was cooked), rice with ‘dal’, ‘khichdi’, and certain other vegetarian dishes sans garlic and onion. He loved being stroked and could spend hours on Kallol’s chest with his eyes closed and teeth grinding with joy.

Being a member of the family, he was well traveled by any standards. He could not travel by flight and most hotels do not allow rabbits in the room, hence family vacations were also restricted. But wherever the family could go by car or by train, the pet would travel and enjoy the journey. He visited Raipur, Dhamtari, Chitrakoot falls in Chattisgarh and Puri .

When he was aging, he lost his eyesight; but had little problem as his ears were perfect and he knew the house well. He traveled with the family to Raipur and to Gangrel Dam at Dhamtari just 10 days before the curtains fell.

On June 18, 2017, the family realised he was having difficultly with his hind legs. Things deteriorated rapidly. He became immobile within 48 hours and stopped eating. The family tried to force-feed and gave medicines, but they all knew that the final moment was around. Kallol started looking for a place for the rabbit’s ‘afterlife’ and on June 21 evening came to know about PFA.

“I was supposed to meet Amulya the next day to see the place in case anything untoward happened. While I was driving home around 8:20 pm, I imagined the rabbit running beside my car; maybe I was thinking too much. As I reached home and was about to park my car, I got the news from my wife that he was gone forever, just two months and 10 days short of his 9th birthday,’’ he describes remembering the difficult time.