Bengaluru: In a bustling 24-hour city such as ours, amidst logins and jams, a good way to unwind is to just pause for a while, or maybe just ‘paws’ for a while.
For the first time in Namma Bengaluru, a pet fair was held to celebrate the culture of pet parenting and what it means to live outside of oneself, and in the heart of another.
Organised by Creature Companion, a 21-year-old legacy pet care magazine, in association with businesses that are into pet care, the event was held at Tripuravasini – Gate 2 – at Palace Grounds on January 10 and 11.
The publication also organizes the India International Pet Trade Fair every year and the Indian Pet Industry Awards.
In its Bengaluru avatar, the event saw an agglomeration of several professionals and businesses into pet care — spanning verticals such as foods, health and grooming — setting up their stalls at the venue.
Not just curious visitors, but pet parents too visited the show along with their munchkins, making the event a scintillating symphony of man and his truly best friend.
Events
The occasion saw several events by experts engaging visitors in lively discussions on how to interact, manage, and most importantly, enjoy their pets.
Among them was Roohi Kulkarni Kale, who spoke about Canine Intelligence and shared useful hacks inspired by basic psychology, on how humans could better engage with their pets.
A subsequent discussion was conducted by Subhadra Cherukuri, founder of Wag-Ville, a pet boarding initiative in Jakkur, who spoke at length about general canine psychology and fielded questions from the audience on the various dos and don’ts on pet parenting.
An interesting point that emerged from these discussions was the trend of the ‘indulgent pet-parent’ and why — to save the modern marriage — the bedroom must never become the ‘pet-room’.
The trainers emphasized on the need for boundaries in such relationships, especially in the context of humans seeking and offering unhealthy affection — from and to — their pets.
The audience was also witness to a scintillating display of the ‘protective capabilities’ of dogs, by Master Kumar Rich, an internationally acclaimed dog trainer, coach and founder of Canaan Pet Resort in the city.
His display of the delicate relationship between him as Master and his Belgian Malinois left the audience stupefied.
According to the American Kennel Club, the Belgian Malinois was first bred around the city of Malines in northwestern Belgium, and belongs to the ‘herding dogs’ category.
The dog bears a passing resemblance to the German Shepherd, but has a different head, is leggier and finer boned than its better-known German counterpart.
Rich showed the impeccable discipline it takes to keep a dog of such grit and stature under control and in the useful service of man.
Widely believed to be ‘one-master-dogs’, they are generally used for extremely serious purposes such as surveillance, defence and personal security.
The Mals, as they are called, are prized as herders of all kinds of stock, but their versatility and high work-drive have made them sought after by the police and military forces, in particular.
When passion meets fashion
The concluding flavour of the day was a fashion show by the pets and their parents with over 20 dogs and cats taking centrestage, proving that ‘talking the walk’ is indeed more fun than the reverse.
For probably the first time in the city, the human and the canine walked together, in full splendour, proving that ‘going along with the dogs’ is far more inspiring that the more oft-repeated phrase we are cynically prone to hear.
The Aqua Element
The show was not all just dogs and cats, but captured the water element too in all its hues.
A bay exclusively dedicated to the marine and aqua was on display, educating visitors on the various kinds of fish that populate the nether regions of our earth.
A kiosk set up by the Karnataka government to popularize its newly-refurbished aquarium at Cubbon Park was also a big hit, with students and youth taking active interest in the initiative.
The old aquarium has now been revamped by an ace curator over a three-year-period, and currently beams an international vibe, inviting the youth to explore and understand the beauty and mysteries of the subterranean.
The stars of the day made one thing clear – that passion is indeed fashion — and that here, everyone is a winner.
