Sovereign Father had a great many interests. It comes to me now that he bought me a little puppy when I was studying in Shillong. That puppy was a lop-eared breed of spaniel. Her name was Ibemhal. One thing I also remember is that my father was known for keeping many famous, pedigreed dogs in the palace when we were children. It was said that the dogs were bought from a reputable dog breeder from a native state. As children we saw the dogs being fed in the evenings, at the western end of father’s polo ground, seven or eight at a time, one sepoy to each dog. How big those dogs were, how beautiful. There were big ones and small ones, including two greyhounds used on hunts, and many other kinds including bull terriers and so on. I do not remember them all but there was a spaniel called Wendy, just like the spaniel called Ibemhal. I adored her. There were also Great Danes, huge dogs that were a match even for tigers. Those dogs were often turned over to Bhaskar Manisana, the son of my father’s older brother Raja Dumbrasingh, and an expert breeder of dogs, to take care of. One thing I remember clearly today: there was also an extraordinary man who looked after the many dogs in the palace. We called him uncle, either uncle Tomba or uncle Ibotomba. I do not remember the exact name. We understood he was the younger brother of uncle Sougaijam Sanajaoba, who was once father’s private secretary. I have come to realize only now that I must have got my love for birds and animals from my sovereign father. I even heard that he used to keep a tiger in a big cage somewhere towards Mahabali forest. It occurs to me now that Sovereign Father had a desire to keep a zoo and so he started keeping animals in his own palace. I also remember that he kept a wonderful dog at that time. There was no sepoy assigned to this dog nor was he kept tied up. He used to sleep a great deal in various corners of the palace. He was black, and huge. I heard that the dog was a Tangkhul Mastiff, known as just ‘Tangkhul’. The dog that lived with us was called Borogai. I never saw him chase or bite anyone; he just hung around. But if he started barking he filled the entire palace compound with the sound. When I tell this story to other people, experts say that this breed of Tangkhul Mastiff is becoming extinct.
I remember that my father encouraged me to keep pets from the time when I was very little. Once, a female cat that had climbed up a Spanish cherry growing against a small bungalow in our palace had given birth to three kittens. The two bigger ones were brought down by their mother, leaving one weakling crying on top of the bungalow. Though a mere child then, I kept on at my father, begging him over and over again to bring the little kitten down. My father had the roof of the lovely, little bungalow taken apart, got the kitten out from under the roof and gave it to me. This story illustrates the interest my sovereign father had in birds and animals.