It was a heartbreaking moment for Tunnu Gouda as he bade a tearful farewell to his best friend, Anjali.

Tunnu’s friendship with Anjali, whom he had found on the streets of Paralakhemundi, a south Odisha town bordering Andhra Pradesh, was 16 years old, the best bond of his life. Anjali was a mere pup when Tunnu discovered her while feeding street dogs. She became his life. Tunnu pulled out all the stops to make her final journey on Monday a special event.

The body was taken in a flower-bedecked open jeep for cremation in a grand procession. The procession moved around the small town of Paralakhemundi in the Gajapati district, about 200km from Bhubaneswar, for nearly five hours. The procession was marked by DJ music and firecrackers. Before the cremation, the body was given a bath in turmeric water and she was garlanded.

“Anjali was my friend and guide for the last 16 years. When I came back from a tiring day’s work, she was always there to greet me. I will miss her company. Man can ditch one but not a dog,” said 50-year-old Tunnu, a driver by profession.

Tunnu said he was in the habit of giving food to the street dogs and one day he suddenly found Anjali. “She was around one to two months old. A cute puppy. Despite all attempts at persuading her to leave my house, she never left and always followed me wherever I went. And unknowingly I developed a bonding with her which is beyond the dog-and-master relationship. Later my friends named her Anjali.”

He said after Anjali came into his life, his fortunes started soaring. “When Anjali came into my life, I was working as a driver and my monthly income was Rs 4,000. But now I am earning Rs 2,000 per day doing different kinds of jobs and no more working as a driver. For me she was my Laxmi, the goddesses of fortune,” he said.

Now Tunnu feeds 70 street dogs every day. “Every day I spend around Rs 1,000 to feed the dogs. Mostly I feed them rice and chicken once a day,” he said, adding that he remained so busy taking care of Anjali that he did not find time to think of marriage. “Besides I have a fear that my wife might not agree with my way of life.”

Now Tunnu plans to throw a feast for nearly 300 people on the 12th day of Anjali’s death. “She is not a dog for me. She had a human soul. All the rituals will be done as we do for our relatives. I pray she gets a human birth next time,” said Tunnu.