THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stray dogs in the city have a true friend in Tanuja Chandel, 57, a Kashmiri woman, who lives at PTP Nagar. When she ventures out of her home, dozens of stray dogs crowd around her and are happy to get their food from her. Tanuja, who hails from Chenani town in Udampur in Jammu and Kashmir, had come to the city here after her marriage to a former student of College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1995. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the longest road tunnel in the country at Chenani in April last year.
Currently, Tanuja is a trader at SMSM Institute here where she sells handloom clothes and handicrafts procured from across the country. When she comes out of her outlet, several stray dogs follow her. Her association with stray dogs began in 2004 when she saw several of them in front of a mosque at Vattavila.
"The worshipers who came there gave them food. The dogs understand our kindness it is our duty to care for them. They are not stray dogs, but they should be addressed as Indian dogs," said Tanuja who also acts as a yoga teacher.
She loves all living beings, including snakes, and has five Indian dogs at her home. A divorcee, she has two daughters, Sundara and Shambhavi. The former works in WIPRO in Bengaluru and the other is a biotechnology student at Karyavattom Government College. Tanuja is disappointed about the plight of stray dogs in the city and she alleges that the city dwellers try to harm them. She also acts as an unofficial veterinary doctor among stray dogs and is treating three of them suffering from distemper with natural remedies like aloe vera, amrit and turmeric powder.
