It was on a day human beings consider auspicious that Adam found his freedom. A mischievous young boy lit a firecracker and threw it at the tree to which Adam was tethered. Assuming it was food, Adam looked at the boy with grateful, unbelieving eyes and fell on it. In the shock of the unexpected explosion, he broke free of his leash and began running. It took him some time to realize that he was free, and in the delirium of that realization, he stuck his tail between his hind legs and ran around all over the place like a rabid dog. He bit two humans and a cow, and in the night broke into a toddy shop through its palm-leaf wall and ate the fish curry.

‘My only relative is Candy,’ Dr Kamalesh told the young woman who had come to him with a common cold, and seemed interested in him. The sorrow of having become a widow within a week of her wedding had left dark circles under her eyes, and she came often to the doctor with simple ailments or suspicions of ailments.

‘Really? In that case, I’d love to talk to this relative.’

On their very first meeting, Candy understood that the woman was not a dog lover. Still, when she patted him on his back, he rubbed against her legs lovingly. She realized, with some amount of disbelief, that the man she had resolved to make her husband had been, for many years, sharing his meals with a dog and spending an inordinate amount of money on his upkeep.

Candy’s misgivings proved to be true. On the evening of their wedding, she changed all the curtains and bed sheets that were covered in barely visible dog hair, cleaned the entire house, and shifted Candy back into the kennel that had been lying unused. Candy tried to establish a loving relationship with his new mistress, and, realizing that she did not like being licked or hugged, expressed his love by wagging his tail and growling softly. But what really worried Candy was that Kamalesh gave up meat and fish in solidarity with his wife’s vegetarianism. He brought home a special package for Candy once a week, and Candy listened to the fights that ensued between the couple as a result of it.

Soon, they had children, and Candy watched as Kamalesh, too, began to grow distant. He stopped the routine six-monthly visits to the vet. Still, Candy’s heart brimmed with joy every evening when he watched Kamalesh return from work in his car, and on the rare occasion, once a month perhaps, when he called to him lovingly, Candy forgot the neglect and jumped up to lick his face.

Despite his mistress’s objections, Candy tried to befriend the children. They tried to lift him up with sticks poked under him, put stones in his mouth, and urinated on him, and yet Candy let them play with him like an adorable toy. Whenever they fell over or came to harm, he tried to bark to alert his mistress.