Vijay Babu: To our surprise, Rio returned home after two weeks

Pandemic emptiness has persuaded many to get a pet to live with them. Vijay Babu is a proud owner of a cockatiel bird named Rio and Coco, a doggie belonging to lhasa Apso breed. The actor-producer tells the interesting tale behind owning two pets during the pandemic. He says, "Rio came home soon after the lockdown began, and it was really small. One day, when my wife was standing in the balcony, it was trying to fly, and it slipped and went to the floor below. It really got confused as every apartment here looks the same. We tried to find it and we were really upset," he says.To overcome the missing of Rio and the sadness related to it, the actor bought a puppie and named it Coco. The story doesn't end there. "Rio is very intelligent. After fourteen days, our house maid heard a cry from around and when she walked around Rio flew to her and sat on her shoulder," he says adding that it was so excited to return home. "We were super thrilled. Rio was so hungry that for three days it was eating non-stop," he quips. Coco has now turned an actor, Vijay says. "It is difficult to take care of a dog in an apartment, so I knew it needs training. When a dog was short in my next production Valatti, we made him a star. He is coming back trained," he says. Vijay's son is very much excited about having two pets at home. "It's a great pandemic destresser," he says.