If you are visiting Ligia Pinho Subba at her residence near the Ponda market at Shantinagar, you are sure to be welcomed by the barks of Julie, Jacku, Maggotie, Suzie and the overtly hyper Raja who screens you before you meet his lady boss. But as this gentle and soft-spoken lady lovingly asks the dogs, who she treats as if they were her kids, to stop barking, the dogs gladly oblige and disperse, except for Raja who harmlessly continues to jump with excitement with his tail wagging at a rapid pace. This 75-year-old lady, wife of Retd Lt Co Subba, has been taking care of her pet Raja and other stray dogs from the area for the past 26 years.
Before her retirement from her profession as a teacher, Subba used to teach at St. Mary’s High School in Ponda. Her early years saw her teach at different schools across different parts of India, thanks to her husband’s postings in those respective areas. Known for her command over the French language, Subba has also taught Geography and English in schools. Apart from having done her Masters in English during her early years, her studious nature encouraged her to do her Masters in French at the age of 55. Things were better until her husband passed away about 3 years ago, after which she has been living alone with her dogs. The requests of her son, an engineer settled in the United States of America, of joining him and living with his family in the States have been turned down by his mother who innocently says, “If I go there, who will feed my dogs?”
It all started last year in February, when Subba was informed about a dog from the area that was sick. She recalls, “I could hear its cries from a distance. I thought it would die in a couple of days but even after a couple of days, I could still hear its cries. That’s when I knew I had to do something. I searched for him and found him in the gutter. I started feeding him, giving him medicines. Then he became my friend and I started feeding him regularly. Then slowly, two of his friends came along and I started feeding them too. With time, more dogs joined the pack and currently I feed 9 dogs from the area, along with Raja who lives with me.”
Until a couple of months ago, Subba was facing a problem. The people from the area used to stone the stray dogs, as a result of which, she had to do the additional work of nursing the dogs and taking them to the vet, if needed. Thinking that it was the kids from the area stoning the dogs, Subba decided to speak to their parents. But much to her surprise, she found that the culprits were the grown-ups. She then decided to speak to the kids from the area and explain to them why this is wrong. A couple of weeks later, the frequency of incidents of stoning reduced and now it is as good as gone.
Subba’s innocent smile and warm conversations perfectly conceal the little battles she is facing in life. A health problem that started a few years ago resulted in visually impairing her in one eye and the medical condition has grown with time to make her partially blind in the other. Despite that, her daily schedule includes cooking for her dogs and feeding them till 4 in the evening, after which she realizes that she too has to eat. Most often, a cup of coffee and bread do the trick. Subba says, “I get curry pieces from the nearby chicken shop which I boil, before adding rice to it and cooking it with masala. Also, an ex-student of mine brings big sacks full of tough bread from his bakery. Since the bread is hard, I roast them in my oven and break them into small pieces. By the time I finish feeding them, it is 4 pm and then I start wondering what I’m going to eat for lunch. But the satisfaction that I get from seeing them eat makes me happy.”
