Habitues of Besant Nagar would now be accustomed to a selfie point on their commute down Besant Avenue Road, a road that was co-opted into a Health Walk initiative by Greater Chennai Corporation. Those exhausted from a health walk could rest at this selfie point that comes complete with benches. And for the company, they have two human beings in fibreglass, glowing gold, and a dog cut of the same cloth, well, material, and similarly glowing. Of the two representational human beings, a lady holds this dog on a leash; both woman and animal are in suspended animation, frozen in mid-stride.
The woman in happier times, when she had this dog for company. | Photo Credit: Gayathri Nair
Gayathri Nair, a resident of Thiruvanmiyur, a photographer, and a key member of Chennai Photo Biennale, clicked images of the woman robbed of her pet. The photographer had been alerted by a girl studying in a school nearby. And notably, this girl is a member of what is called the Thiruvanmiyur Changemakers Club, a children’s collective that seeks to address civic issues in the neighbourhood their parents and older relatives have given up as hopeless causes.
“This incident was brought to light by Rudra, a young Thiruvanmiyur Changemaker who studies at Adyar Theosophical Academy and crosses this statue on her daily commuter. She is just nine years old,” Gayathri points out.
This dog has been “adopted’ by someone when it was not up for adoption, and the street, Besant Avenue Road, is meant to be its forever home. This animal has to be rescued and restored to its rightful place and its parent.
