Through the intertwined lives of Sugar, Peppy, and Missy, Ramesh Narayan discovers not just unconditional love—but a purpose: to honour the Indie dog and rewrite its history with dignity. Vinta Nanda speaks to the author.  

Missy’s Musings by Ramesh Narayan is a deeply moving coffee table book that celebrates the lives of Indie dogs while challenging the stigma around them. Born from lockdown reflections and narrated in Missy’s voice, the book offers heartwarming stories and rare insight into India's ancient native dog breed. With all proceeds going to animal welfare and no copies for sale, this powerful tribute doubles as a campaign for adoption, compassion, and rebranding the Indie as India’s pride—not pity.  

During the COVID-19 lockdown, when time slowed and the world turned inward, two Facebook accounts became quiet companions to my days. The posts of Joy Bimal Roy and Ramesh Narayan—unbeknownst to each other—began rippling through timelines, offering profound reflections, wit, and heartfelt wisdom.

Those spontaneous posts have since found permanence in print. Joy’s reflections have become Ramblings of a Bandra Boy, while Ramesh’s voice—narrated through his beloved dog—lives on in the coffee table book Missy’s Musings.

As I immersed myself in Missy’s world, I was moved to understand the deep bond Ramesh shares with his dogs. What unfolded was not just a conversation, but a journey—across three lives, three resistances, and a quietly burning purpose. Fittingly, as our chat drew to a close, Ramesh mentioned with a chuckle that he and Joy went to college together—Sydenham in Mumbai. Life, like love, often circles back.  

 

It All Began With Sugar

When Ramesh Narayan’s twelve-year-old son first asked him for a dog, he said no. “We live on the 13th floor,” he reasoned. “It’ll be messy, not ideal for the dog—or us.”

But the boy didn’t give up. After days of pleading, Ramesh finally asked, “What breed do you want?” His son replied, “A pug.” It was around the time Vodafone’s iconic pug ads were on TV. Ramesh smiled and asked, “Do you want a dog… or a brand?”

The next day, his son returned with clarity: “I want a dog.”

So off they went to a Welfare for Stray Dogs (WSD) adoption mela. Amid wagging tails and hopeful eyes, they chose the most unassuming-looking stray. “She was probably the most ordinary-looking dog there,” Ramesh recalls fondly.

“Her name was Sugar. She’d been rescued from the airport and couldn’t be released back because it was a restricted zone.”

Sugar came home. And so began Ramesh Narayan’s enduring love affair with dogs.

Sugar didn’t need training—she knew where and when to relieve herself, never using the lift or the building compound. She had dignity, intelligence, and heart. She was with them for several years, quietly shifting the family’s rhythm around her presence.  

The Madras Mutiny and the Arrival of Peppy

Before Sugar passed, the family was visiting Ramesh’s father-in-law in Chennai. One day, a little stray dog took to them—bounding up whenever they came home. But the next afternoon, the dog disappeared. Ramesh’s son, distraught, confronted his grandfather who explained helplessly that the municipal van had picked the pup up.

His son and wife staged a silent rebellion. “By evening, they had launched a sort of ‘Mount Bharat’ on me,” Ramesh chuckles. “They refused to talk to me until I found that dog.”

That evening, Ramesh was at dinner with the then editor of The Indian Express, Kamlendra Kanwar. In between sips and stories, Ramesh brought up the dog. Kamal’s wife, a civic affairs journalist, promised help.

The very next morning, Ramesh got a call from the Deputy Municipal Commissioner himself: “Sir, the dog has been located. Please go pick her up.”

They found her in a large shelter. While Ramesh waited with the doctor, his wife and son spotted the pup. The moment she saw Ramesh, the little dog—later named Peppy—ran straight to him, burying her face in his leg and weeping.

“She remembered who had come for her,” he says. “That moment broke me.”

Ramesh arranged vaccinations and care, and a week later flew Peppy back to Mumbai. She was traumatised—afraid of umbrellas, shadows, sudden movements. “But she would walk only with me,” he says. “And I, who had initially resisted, fell in love again.”  

Then Came Missy

Years passed. Sugar was gone. Peppy too, after living with them for nearly eight years. One day, Ramesh’s now grown-up son showed him a Facebook post—a photograph of a fragile pup rescued from Grant Road station with a magnet stuck in her skull.

An English literature professor (from whom the name Missy comes) had saved her, healed her, and was looking for a new home since she already had a Great Dane.

“We already have a dog,” Ramesh protested. As always, his wife and son fell silent. The pattern was clear. “They just stop talking to me till I give in,” he laughs.

So Missy came home.

And Missy wasn’t like any dog Ramesh had ever known. “She understood everything. I never had to raise my voice or say things like ‘sit’ or ‘no’. I just spoke to her the way I’d speak to anyone. And she responded.”  

Lockdown Diaries: Missy’s Musings

Then came the pandemic. Locked indoors like everyone else, Ramesh began writing short social media posts in Missy’s voice—her thoughts, her sass, her wisdom. “I wondered if people would accept the voice of a dog,” he muses. “They did more than that—they fell in love with her.”

The posts became a phenomenon. Comments poured in. Missy was everyone’s wise, witty companion during those uncertain days.

About a year ago, someone suggested he compile them into a book. Around the same time, Ramesh was getting more deeply involved in animal welfare.

“I’d been taking photos of Missy for years,” he says. He shared them with Dhananjay, a young creative director. “I told him to design the book. He said, ‘Let’s make it a coffee table book.’ I said, ‘That’s ambitious!’”

But they did it. The book was titled Missy’s Musings.  

The Forgotten Royalty of Indian Streets

More than just a tribute to a beloved pet, the book champions the Indian dog—often unfairly called a “stray” or worse, pariah.

Ramesh shares a fascinating insight: the skull of the Indie dog has been found in the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, making it one of the oldest dog breeds in the world.  

The Indie dog—often dismissed as a "stray"—has one of the richest and oldest histories among global canine breeds. Archaeological evidence confirms that Indies existed as far back as 5,000 years ago, cohabiting with humans in the Indus Valley Civilization.

Their decline began in 1851, when British colonials in India started importing foreign breeds for hunting and status. An English officer in Madras is believed to have misused the Tamil word “Parayan” (meaning social outcast), and applied it to the native Indian dog. The term “pariah dog” stuck—a linguistic and cultural injustice.

Post-independence, this prejudice endured. Despite their intelligence, resilience, and adaptability, Indies were increasingly pushed out of homes and replaced by pedigrees.

But the tide is turning. Activists, writers, and storytellers like Ramesh Narayan are leading a quiet revolution to reclaim the dignity of this ancient, loyal breed.

“This book,” Ramesh says, “isn’t just about Missy. It’s about rebuilding respect for an entire breed.” 

Image 3

True to His Spirit

True to his values, Ramesh hasn’t sold a single copy of Missy’s Musings. “This is my third book. None are for sale,” he says. “They’re all gifted.”

Yet the book is doing meaningful work. A local resident’s association began collecting donations in exchange for copies. In just a month, over ₹63,000 was raised—from ₹2,000 to ₹10,000 per contribution. “People give because they believe in the cause.” Another group in Chembur requested ten copies. The book is now quietly making its way into homes—and hearts—across the city. 

Don’t Shop. Adopt.

When I offered to pay for the copy he sent me, Ramesh insisted, “I don’t want your money. All I ask is that when you write or speak about the book, end with one line: Don’t shop. Adopt. That’s enough.”

Ramesh Narayan’s journey with Sugar, Peppy, and Missy is more than a tale of three beloved dogs. It’s a quiet revolution—against apathy, against prejudice, and in favour of the voiceless. A movement born from love, nurtured through resistance, and shared through storytelling.

Missy is not just his muse. She’s a mirror—reflecting back everything we could be, if we just listened better.  

To request a copy of Missy’s Musings or donate to the NGOs supported by Ramesh Narayan, DM him through his social media. You’ll receive not just a book—but a reason to believe in kindness again.