Meher Vinay and Arunita Sarkar from Phoenix city in Arizona, United States, once shared an interesting fact about their dog on Reddit—the canine loved the songs of Bollywood singer Kishore Kumar and would protest in his own way when songs of other singers were played.
Little did the couple know that Kishore, too, connected with ‘man’s best friend’ rather strongly. The singer domesticated a jackal pup in his childhood; later, his first wife Ruma brought home a White German Shepherd who was named King. It was probably she who instilled the love for canines in Kishore, who even posed with the pet on the cover of the 26 October 1955 edition of Filmfare magazine.
At the time, all wasn’t rosy between Ruma and Kishore, who were preoccupied with thoughts of separation and its consequences. They weren’t worried about their son Amit, though—so long as King was there with him, the young boy would be safe. King was the additional guardian who would ensure that strangers were kept at arm’s length and followed Amit everywhere, right from Sawaria Cottage (where Kishore and his family used to stay) to the nearby playgrounds.
The couple was devastated when King died in 1956. “It is like losing a child,” recounted Ruma in an interview with Filmfare. An emotional Ruma didn’t want to adopt a dog again, but Kishore had a different view. Having reconciled with the vicissitudes of life, he wanted a dog in his compound sooner than later. But Kishore couldn’t adopt another dog for years, first due to Ruma’s attachment to King, and later due to his second wife Madhubala’s ailing health.
The singer compensated for the absence of dogs in his life in eccentric, often rib-tickling ways. Leena Chandavarkar, Kishore’s fourth wife, recalled a funny incident in an interview with Showtime in October 1997. “Once, producer HS Rawail had come to meet Kishore who was sleeping with a sign beside him that said: ‘Do not disturb. Dog sleeping’. When Mr Rawail woke him up, he started barking like a dog and drove the poor man away,” she said.
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Back among dogs
It was during the late 1960s that dogs entered Kishore’s life once again. The singer put up a kennel that housed Bobby, an Alsatian, and nine others, including a Boxer, a Bloodhound, a Terrier, a Bullmastiff, a Cocker Spaniel, and a few Indian mongrels. Later, Kishore also domesticated four ferocious-looking Great Danes. Grapevine has it that the singer would set this gang on unwelcome intruders—composer Ajay Das was reportedly told by Kishore that the dogs bite only Income Tax officials. But according to Kishore’s brother Ashok, talking to Star & Style, the Great Danes were a gentle lot that did not even know how to bite.
Journalist Meena Iyer, too, put these stories to rest when she wrote in Star & Style: “The dogs stayed put in their kennels. Coffee was served to them with the right amount of sugar, and the master of the house proved to be what he claimed—‘a simple villager from Khandwa’—who I found adorable.”
In an online article titled An evening with Kishore Kumar Khandwawala, journalist Molly recollected his experience with Kishore’s dogs at the singer’s birthday parties.
“I was welcomed by a crowd of 30 dogs of all pedigrees who scared the life out of me. I heard the famous voice saying ‘Om Shanti’, and all the dogs silently walked back to the kennels that he had built for them all around Gouri Kunj. ‘Ghabrane ki koi zaroorat nahin, yeh insaanon se bahot achche aur wafadar log hain,’ [Kishore said]. Putting a huge garland of fresh mogra flowers on my neck, he instructed me not to take it off as long as I was his guest. A quaint feeling accompanied me as if I was walking around a place belonging to an emperor who refuses to let go of the past. He had names for all his dogs. As the party ended, he took back the garlands from our necks, walked along with his dogs, and saw us off,” Molly wrote.
That the dogs ruled the roost in Kishore’s house was observed by casual visitors too. A journalist of Saptahik Hindustan recalled an incident from the late ’60s or early ’70s in a 1971 issue: “It was known to us that in case you call for an appointment, Kishore would masquerade as a lady or a Nepali or a Madrasi and would tell you that he is not at home and is not expected soon. So, one lazy morning, I decided to barge in directly. First, I was welcomed by the dogs, and then by the guards, and incidentally, both were speaking the same language.”
In the world of music, Kishore Kumar’s influence is often compared to that of other legendary figures. His unique style and emotional depth resonate with the works of lyricists like Rajinder Krishan, who crafted timeless songs that captured the essence of love and longing. Rajinder Krishan was known for his ability to write lyrics that connected deeply with audiences, much like Kishore’s unforgettable melodies.
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The dogs in Kishore’s lives
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that adopting dogs was Kishore’s way of compensating for the lack of human company at Gouri Kunj, his bungalow. Two of his dogs were named Jhoomroo and Ghoomroo, the first after his 1961 hit musical and the second out of his love for rhyme.
But outsiders knew Jhoomroo by his more popular name, Boxie. Emotional and reserved, the cool-headed Boxie was Kishore’s constant companion as the singer played his harmonium in isolation. Boxie appreciated his master’s music and would join him while he played. According to Kishore’s relatives, the dog would even seemingly ‘hum’ in tune, emulating the pause when Kishore would stop singing and restart when the singer would. His son Amit once observed it while playing harmonium with his father. It was as if Boxie had musical genes too. Everybody at Gouri Ganj called Boxie “the great musical dog”.
Kishore even wanted to make a film on Boxie. But when someone reminded him that Boxie had a more important job at home—to guard the house—the singer dropped the idea.
Kishore’s friend and actor Mahmood had a funny story to tell. “Once, he gifted me a small Alsatian puppy. I was happy with it and took that puppy to my farm at Kamshet. But as it grew up, the dog took a very funny shape. Gradually, we understood that the father of the pup was some street dog,” he recalled in an interview with Cine Blitz in March 1980.
As time went by, Kishore’s love for dogs supported the theory that the madcap genius was like any other person and that he simply used his ‘madness’ as a ruse to create shock and impact. As per Yogeeta Bali, his third wife, Kishore expected her to bathe his dogs. Yogeeta, too, shared with Kishore a love for the canine. “We were both fond of eating sweets. Beyond that, there was nothing much to discuss. In fact, during the last eight months, we have talked only about our dogs,” she said in an interview with the periodical Film World.
By the time Kishore had separated from Yogeeta and married Leena, around 1980, he had a new favourite dog—Goldie, a Cocker Spaniel. The small, furry canine was housed in a separate space from the kennel and had its own attendant. One day, the dog, which never roamed outside the premises on its own, was hit by a speeding car when he went awry and succumbed to injuries.
Nobody knew how to break the news to Kishore, who would return home every day and welcome Goldie in his arms. Shocked to hear about Goldie’s death, Kishore resigned to his room, shut the door, and stayed away from his dogs for a while.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)
These are unpublished extracts that the author duo could not incorporate in their book, Kishore Kumar, The Ultimate Biography, published by HarperCollins India.
Inputs from various issues of Filmfare, Cine Blitz, Star & Style, Film World, Mukul Dutt’s “Ek Din Pakhi Ure Jabe”, and interviews with Abdul and Sarbani Das (wife of late composer Ajay Das).