True love: Family conducts 'bali' ritual for pet dog Emi in Kerala

KOZHIKODE: In a heart-warming display of human-canine bonds transcending the conventional notions about pets, a family in Malappuram has performed the traditional post-death 'bali' ritual for their departed pet dog 'Emi' on the banks of Tirunavaya on Friday.

Nisha M K, a schoolteacher hailing from Changaramkulam, performed the 'bali' rites typically reserved for close family members with reverence and solemnity for Emi, a female labrador, which had been with the family for the past eight years. Emi had died on May 27 following a heart attack.

"For me, she (Emi) was not a pet but a daughter. We brought her from a pet shop in Kunnamkulam when she was just one month. It was after our two daughters went to Canada for higher studies and later got settled there we thought that a pet dog would give us some company at home. But soon she made her way to my heart and became like a daughter for me. Though Emi was born a dog, she lived like a human. So I did the bali rituals for her on the 61st day of her death so that her soul can attain moksha," said Nisha who lives at their house at Changaramkulam with husband Rajeev P.

Nisha said that she offered the ritual after telling Emi's name and birth star to the priest at Thirunavaya who guided her through the bali rites which included offering rituals with dharbha, pavithram made of grass and offering of sesame and cheroola flowers and cooked rice balls.

"When the priest asked for whom the bali was being offered, I said it was for my daughter and told Emi's name and birth star. I didn't say it was for a dog as Emi was truly a daughter for me," Nisha said.

She said the dog was loved by the entire neighbourhood and as many as 45 people had attended her funeral.

"As I did not want her to be buried far away, we removed some of the interlock tiles paved in front of our house and buried her there," said Nisha, adding that Emi was an intelligent dog and could grasp when people said something to it and responded accordingly so that neighbours used to call the dog 'Malayalam Pandit'.