As thousands gathered at Mumbai’s NCPA, where Ratan Tata’s mortal remains were kept earlier on Thursday, a black dog with white paws and a white patch on its nostril and forehead made the sombre setting more poignant.

Wagging its tail non-stop, the dog with a red collar refused to leave Tata’s side, literally clinging to the spot next to the casket.

‘Goa’, a stray, named after the coastal state from where Tata had adopted it nearly a decade ago, was brought to the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in south Mumbai to pay the final respects to its friend who was no more.

A caretaker said Goa was “very close” to Tata. When photographers jostled to click Goa’s pictures, the caretaker urged them to let the pet go saying it had not eaten anything since morning.

Tata’s love for dogs is well-chronicled. During Diwali of 2020, he had posted on Instagram a photograph of him celebrating the festival with the “adopted Bombay House dogs”, especially with Goa, his “office companion”.

Earlier in the day, MNS president Raj Thackeray fondly remembered that he and Tata shared a common thread of their love for canines and said stray dogs were welcomed in all Tata premises, be it the Taj Mahal hotel or Bombay House, the group headquarters.

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