When Surase Rajagopal’s German Shepherd called Sam, passed on, he was devastated. For years, he couldn’t open his heart to another dog.
That is, until his daughter, Jashveena, asked him for a pet. Their search led them to Karna: a chubby, cuddly and irresistibly cute Wooly Husky with one brown eye and one blue eye.
“When we saw Karna, we loved him. We saw his eyes, which had different colours. And he was so chubby,” the 49-year-old businessman recalled with a laugh.
That very day, Surase and his family brought the three-month-old puppy home. They named him Karnan, although they later began calling him Karna.
Before long, Karna became a cherished member of the family. Surase even calls Karna his “son”.
“If my daughter’s friends ask her, ‘where’s your dog?’, she’ll get angry. For her, Karna is her ‘thambi’ (brother),” said Surase, adding that although Karna is close to all of them, he is particularly attached to his daughter.
Surase said the family spoke in Tamil to Karna from day one. “I love the Tamil language. That’s why I want my son, Karna, to know Tamil too. We want him to be part of the family when we are conversing in Tamil,” he explained, adding that Karna also understands some English words.
In fact, a TikTok clip of Karna responding to Surase, who was speaking in Tamil to him, went viral and garnered an impressive 1.9 million views at press time.
In the clip, uploaded by Surase last month, Karna can be heard “complaining”, and refusing to go to the bedroom to sleep unless his furdad accompanied him.
“He’s scared of the dark and wants me inside the room. Only then will he sleep peacefully,” Surase said affectionately.
In an earlier clip, Karna is seen sulking and even burying his face in the couch when Surase refuses to hand him a toy.
According to Surase, he began uploading videos of Karna in 2022. Since then, Karna has charmed many hearts online and the proud furdad revealed that he even has fans from Indonesia, Europe, China and India!
Surase said the 20-month-old Karna enjoys car rides too. In fact, the family has even driven to Penang and Pahang with Karna on board. And the clever canine even lets his family know when he needs to relieve himself during the journey.
“Our whole family truly understands him and even if he makes a small sound, we know what he wants,” Surase said of his “son”.
When they are out and above, Karna catches the attention of people around him. But this playful, gentle giant knows not to jump around too much, especially around children.
Apparently, as much as he loves car rides, Karna will not budge from the house when he smells Surase’s wife cooking mutton or lamb. “He won’t move until my wife serves him some!”
However, when it comes to food, what really gets his tail wagging is ice cream…and roti canai! “He is crazy about roti canai. He can smell it when I buy roti canai. Once I enter the house, he will know I bought it. He will jump around,” Surase said.
It is heartwarming to see how much joy Karna has brought his human family. This is especially true for Surase as Karna came into his life during one of his toughest times.
“Even though I had a problem with my business and there were no sales, when I came home every day, Karna was there, running towards me. He was the first to come to me and hug me. Every time he did that, I’d forget my worries.
“Then, my life started to change. A lot of beautiful things happened. That’s the beautiful part of my boy, Karna: he’s my lucky charm,” Surase concluded.
Follow the adventures of Karna the Wooly Husky on TikTok.
This article was written by Sheela Vijayan @ FMT Lifestyle. Read more pet stories here.
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