Andheri-resident Anuradha Sawhney jots down her thoughts on what makes her neighbourhood special
One night, when I had gone out for dinner with my colleagues, I noticed a green car from the restaurant window. It stopped every few yards for five to seven minutes, and each time the car stopped, I noticed stray dogs running towards it. After a quick dinner, we started driving around Juhu in an effort to find the car. Suddenly, we spotted it. I saw a beautiful lady almost sitting on the road amidst a bunch of stray dogs. I heard her speaking to the dogs. She seemed to have a name for each of them. Her driver was spooning out cooked food in bowls. As the dogs emptied them, he put the bowls back in the car. This lady was Anju Mahendroo.
Anju and I soon got to know each other, and we have stayed friends even though I now have to divide my time between Juhu and Pune. She carries a first aid kit in her car for any emergencies concerning strays—I have accompanied her to provide first aid to stray dogs even as late as 2 a.m. For Anju, no night is complete without feeding the neighbourhood dogs their final round of glucose biscuits. For me, the best part about Juhu has always been Anju and her coterie of dogs.
At Anju's place, I met the beautiful Poonam Sinha. I also had the good fortune of being present when, on one memorable evening, Shatrughan Sinha said 'Khamosh' in his legendary style to a cat meowing for food! I once helped Sonakshi rehabilitate a baby bulbul. Another time, I helped her rescue some donkeys that were tied up in the middle of a road in Juhu.
For me, Juhu is also about nights spent walking on the beach, stalking monkey wallahs. One night, a colleague and I confiscated a camel in Juhu market. Confiscating him was easy since we had the law on our side, deciding what to do with the camel afterwards was the difficult part. Finally, we sorted out the matter but not before meeting the real night dwellers of Juhu…a drug addict or two and an old, homeless lady looking for a place to sleep.
During the July 2005 flood, my house in Juhu was in a bad state. My PETA colleagues, especially Jalaj, Sachin, Tejal and Monish, helped me rescue my dog and cats.
I miss my favourite eating places in Juhu. We, PETA staffers, used to hang out at Brio as they prepared vegan dishes for us. Sadly, Brio shut shop and so did Crepe Station.
Anuradha Sawhney moved to Juhu in 2000 when she joined the PETA India office.
—As told to Tavasya Agarwal
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