Bhanu....and his three muskeeters!

First things first, thank you for coming back to this page. As the great Indian comedian Raju Shrivastav once said….'Mazaak Mazaak mein vapas aa gaye…' Just kidding. I am genuinely glad you are here. Could not have asked for a better form of encouragement.

The story that follows is one of conviction…and it stars a man who does not just talk about it but shows it through his actions every single day. Meet Bhanu Pratap Singh. My husband. And yes, the very same name as the iconic character from Sooryavansham, a film every true 90s Bollywood fan has grown up watching. 😄

An Intro to Bhanu…

Before I get into who exactly his three musketeers are, let me paint you a picture of Bhanu.

From the outside, he is pure tough cookie; a perpetually angry resting face that says "don't talk to me" (we match, by the way 😐😐). Walk next to us on a regular day and strangers genuinely move aside. Jodiyan sachme aasman mein hi banti hain.

Peel back one layer and there it is — absolute pookie, heart of a mischievous five year old, and the most convincing liar you will ever meet in your life. The man can cook up a story before I finish my sentence and deliver it without blinking. Impressive and terrifying in equal measure.

And not to forget — he is afraid of dogs. Apparently he was attacked multiple times as a child and they scare him to the core. Keep that detail in your back pocket. It becomes relevant very soon.

Bhanu comes in different editions. Some days he is the full macho package - walks into a room like he owns it, scared of absolutely nothing and no one. Other days? He is curled up watching an underdog story and crying his eyes out without a single apology for it 😭. Apparently, after watching Vijay Sethupathi's Maharaja, the man cried the whole night. The WHOLE night. I am not judging, just stating the facts. 📋

An intro to the three musketeers…

The three musketeers in Bhanu's life are three puppies whose mother died a few months ago.

Before we get to the bond that Bhanu shares with his three buddies, let me clarify that he is not a hardcore animal lover. However, he respects and cares for them enough to understand that humans share this world equally with animals.

Around five months ago, a stray dog in our building gave birth to three cute puppies. Everything went fine for about a month. Since the puppies were born in the parking lot of our building, Bhanu came to care for them the way any kind-hearted person would.

However, a month after the puppies were born, the mother dog fell seriously ill. Within a span of two days, she succumbed to her illness. By then, Bhanu was already taking care of the mother dog's and the puppies' vaccinations, since it appeared she had been bitten by a rabid stray dog.

The three puppies, aka Bhanu's future musketeers, were left to fend for themselves without a mother.

The story gets interesting…

The day the puppies' mother was carried away by government officials, Bhanu made a quiet vow to himself — he would take care of them until they were old enough to be on their own. What stayed with him was the image of the mother walking away from her puppies after she started showing symptoms of rabies. Some images don't leave you. This one didn't leave him.

When the puppies were two months old, he got them vaccinated, removed their ticks with his own hands, called a doctor to administer anti-tick medication, and applied anti-tick powder to their bodies every Sunday until they were completely free of them.

For the past four months, like clockwork, he has been feeding them protein-rich home-cooked food twice a day. Every day at 12 pm and 10 pm, no matter where he is, no matter how occupied, he makes sure their food is cooled down to the right temperature before they eat. Bhanu, a man who turned pure vegetarian 2.5 years ago, gets fresh shredded chicken cooked in hot water for them daily. His mother cooks rice for them twice a day. Their drinking water is filled from home in a dedicated container. He does not delegate this to anyone. It is entirely his own doing.

A man who never cooked rice for himself has now mastered meal prep for three puppies. Let that sink in. 😄

He also built them a makeshift but sturdy, waterproof home outside the building using recycled materials — because wasting anything is simply not in his DNA (a trait I suspect he gets from his mother, one of the most creatively resourceful women I have ever seen). Even during Mumbai's June rains, when the city was doing its best impression of Venice, the puppies' home stayed dry and safe inside. 🐾

A 90s Bollywood villain walked into the story…

Every good story has a villain. Someone whose sole purpose is to kill the joy. The story of Bhanu and his three musketeers is no exception.

On a Monday morning, when the rest of the world was busy trying to survive the week, a character from the building decided to demolish the puppies' home. For context — this home was built entirely outside the building premises and was bothering absolutely no one.

What happened next surprised even me…

Bhanu is not someone who sits back and watches injustice unfold. He will always fight back… usually with muscles, but this time he used something far more dangerous: his brain. 😄

He brought out the big guns. He contacted animal rights activists, filed a formal police complaint, and followed up persistently for two weeks until action was taken. The person who demolished the puppies' home was identified and fined.

I genuinely did not think he would go as far as involving the legal system for three stray puppies. But then again — when has Bhanu ever done anything halfway?

The ending…

Finally, we have reached a place where the puppies and the residents coexist in harmony. The puppies have been trained to eat, sleep, and do their business in designated areas. They are now five months old. Bhanu expects to look after them for a few more months, and after that, we will see how the story unfolds.

For now, the puppies know they have someone to turn to. They know they will be fed nutritious food every day. They have a comfortable place to sleep and dream — just like every little child deserves. 🐾

The epilogue.

So what was the point of telling you all this?

In this journey called life, every small moment carries a lesson….if we are willing to receive it.

What I learned watching Bhanu take care of his three musketeers is this: a promise made to yourself beats every hurdle life throws at you. It sounds simple, even boring. It takes consistent effort. It does not profit him in any conventional sense. And yet, for four months without a single break, he has shown up — because one day he made a promise to himself, and that was enough.

On that note, I will leave you with the only man who said it better than I ever could —

"Ek baar maine commitment kar di, toh main apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta" 💪😄
— Salman Khan