25 May,2011 09:59 AM IST | | Payal Kamat Samant
For Bhavana Balsaver, her pets come first. Even her long-time beau turned husband Karan Shah knows this.
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Busy with writing and rehearsing plays, and acting in a comic television series, Bhavana talks to CS about unconditional love and coming home to husband and her brood of pets.
Pet reign
Even though Karan and I have been in a relationship for 12 years, I couldn't agree to tie the knot. I'm too independent, but when I realised that my independence wouldn't get hampered, I said yes. Karan understands that my work and my pets come first (laughs). Actually, my love for animals bloomed when I was a kid. My parents would get me a pet every year for my birthday. They got me a tortoise, squirrel, lovebirds, and dogs. But one year I asked them for a donkey and that's it; they stopped indulging me. Today, I have eight dogs at home and around 12-13 strays who come to feed at my door everyday once at 7:30am and then at 4:30pm. During this time, there's a traffic jam at my door and everyone is advised to not drop in at these hours.
Stray indulgence
I do spend a lot of money on my pets, but I have no regrets. Fifty per cent of what I earn goes in their care. The monthly pet food consumption at my place is 50 kilos of Pedigree, 150 litres of milk and countless bread. However, no human being is capable of giving such unconditional love the way dogs do. They make the world a better place to live. And if I'm working at a set or theatre for say two-three months, the strays over there too become my responsibility. I'm so crazy about my babies (that's what she calls her dogs) that even when I'm travelling abroad for plays and such, I call up my mom and first enquire about them.
A little wild
But, my love for animals isn't restricted to dogs alone. I harbour this wish to own a tiger and a lion sometime too. But I know that it's practically impossible. Recently, I visited Kanchanaburi in Thailand and had an amazing time interacting with the tigers at the sanctuary there. But let me tell you that someday I will hopefully own a donkey. I want to care for one, as they are such sweet animals to look at. Everyone ignores them or makes fun of them when they are such noble souls.
