By Kruthi Pranesh
Stuck in his home near the Vembuli Amman Koil Street on Arcot Road for over six days now, Blackie, is possibly one of the bravest one to bear the Chennai floods. While his guardians fled in fear of the rising floodwater in the area, no one knows as to why he wasn’t taken to a safe haven. A friend’s call asking to rescue him led us to his locality, where his cries could be heard from a distance.
Even after five days of the very heavy rains in Chennai, the water levels are still five feet high, with only rafts being the means of transport. Velmurugan, a 22-year-old grocery shop attender who has been the boatman for hundreds for the past one week, was gracious enough to take us to Blackie.
As we knocked on his gate and called out to him, he peeped through his balcony, signalling his presence. Days of sudden loneliness had put a certain amount of fear into him. We were informed by one of the neighbours that someone had untied the leash at least to ensure he could move around in his home. There were several packets of biscuits lying around in the balcony, which people tossed over from the ground floor. We were also humbled at how other several people have been wading through the floodwater to give him food and also ensure that he was in a healthy condition.
He hesitantly ate the few slices of bread we carried along with us. Blackie showed no sign of moving out of the place or even any willingness to get onto the boat. After several efforts, his neighbour Merlin aunty, however said that it’s best that he stays home and that they will continuously monitor his state and also give him food through the day. We left the place as Blackie kept staring back awaiting his guardian’s arrival.