After getting a statue, Eldho now to be honoured with a commemorative meeting

Not everyone is immortalised with a statue. But, Eldho, a stray dog in Eroor North who was found dead in a waterbody in the neighbourhood on April this year, was etched into the psyche of people here with a statue of his own. That it comes at a time when stray dogs have been declared ‘public enemy’ makes it even more poignant.

Autorickshaw drivers at the local stand, where the dog was found abandoned many years ago, felt that after being an integral part of the community for nearly a decade-and-a-half, the least their beloved Eldho deserved was a statue. So, a statue was made in his honour and now they are in the process of putting it in a glass enclosure.

Many memories

Not stopping with that, they have also planned a commemorative meeting, which might be held after Onam. K.V. Sanakan, an autorickshaw driver who rescued Eldho after he was found abandoned as a puppy in 2011, says there are enough memories to warrant one.

There was hardly ever an event in the locality where Eldho was not welcome. “Whether it was a marriage, a death or celebrations over a newborn, he was always present. He used to escort children returning home from school or tuition and sat alongside youngsters engaged in writing boards,” he says.

Eldho was named after actor Cochin Haneefa’s popular character from the 1995 movie Mannar Mathai Speaking, though no one remembers why. Eldho even has a cake from a local bakery named after him when it became his favourite snack.

‘Never hurt anyone’

“I always felt Eldho had a human soul. He never hurt anyone. Even if you accidentally stepped on him, he just moved away,” says P. Santhosh, a local resident.

Eldho never went hungry as he was assured of a morsel, no matter which household in the locality he walked into. When he got a piece of meat from a local abattoir, he ate only as much as he wanted and dug up a hole on the ground to save the leftover. And the next time he got hungry, he returned and dug it out. “This habit of saving for another day was another human-like trait of Eldho’s,” recalls Santhosh.