This is a long due piece. Readers might think of it as a 'light' write up, not really focused on some of the serious issues that I often cover. It is not about social inclusion. It is not about discrimination or human rights nor is it about politics. It's the story of two dogs, one male, one female, and how a whole neighbourhood got so attached to them till they disappeared.

In the middle of the pandemic, between lockdowns and days were 'open', after a long search, we had found a new apartment for rent. At the beginning, I did not notice them, but slowly they became a fixed presence around the house. They were always around, always looking at you in a sweet way with their big eyes. People living around liked them and they were taking care of them.

I just became one of them. I never had my own doggy back home, but my uncle used to have a big one, Jimmy, and I always liked him a lot. Generally speaking, I always got along well with the dogs. They are cute, they are trustworthy, and they are always ready to spend time with you. Importantly, they really do not bother if you are around them, actually they love your company.

I recently read an article in The New York Time about the way Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist and anthropologist, was celebrating her 90th birthday. Can you guess? Surrounded by many of her supporters, she was having a party with lots of dogs in a beach in California because dogs are the animals she loves the most.

If you think about it, dogs deserve some special awards. If you own one, you are well aware that they are our companions and always ready to stand by. I was aware of all this, but before I met these two doggies, I never thought that these animals could also bring you bits of happiness and joy. Are you surprised?

I am not talking about crazy levels of excitement or hyper levels of elevation, but instead of a solid, steady feeling that makes, in many small, even unconscious ways, your day and your life a bit better. This is what happened with these two doggies that were loved and cared by almost everyone. They were literally our community dogs with many families and children playing with them and taking care of them.

You might have noticed that I have not mentioned their names yet. Actually, I do not know their real names and I even do not know if they had a name. I heard neighbours calling them in different ways, and I had my own ways to do likewise with two made up meaningless and perhaps funny names that once had crossed my mind.

Day by the day I really got close to them even if I could not spend much time together as they were always around, guarding their 'safe space' from other dogs.

Though they were not huge, they were fighters, and they were not shy at showing their displeasure if another dog invaded their areas.

I sometimes got mad at them because of the fighting erupting with other doggies, and on more than one occasion, I had to literally rescue them from the big brawls with gangs of other dogs. On all these occasions, they showed their bravery and perhaps also their stupidity, but let's leave this apart.

They were also very nice, and they were loving, cuddling and hugging them. I saw many neighbours doing the same. These two doggies were awesome, and I really could not get those few neighbours doing their best to ignore them. How could they I always thought.

One of them, the female, used to follow me and my wife during our walks in the evening. It was nice, but also it could be annoying because, on one occasion, she ended up in big trouble after infringing the space of another gang of dogs. In that case, we literally had to lift her from the ground and bring her back to her neighbourhood.

In many ways, these two doggies were bringing together this small area as, in some ways, they were the core and heart of the community. Perhaps, it is a little exaggeration to think of them as 'the glue of the neighbourhood', but to some extent they were really bringing cohesion and unity.

When I walk or move around on my bicycle, I often see people around town taking care of street dogs. Even in our extended zone, I often see a young woman feeding dogs in the streets. I think it's an important duty, I never thought of thanking her but probably I should because street dogs, even if they are often portrayed as an inconvenience or a danger, they are part of the fabric of urban cities in Nepal.

Yes, some of them can be nasty and uncontrolled as stray dogs can be, considered as an issue of concern. That's why I do understand when the authorities want to take some action to control them. But there is also another side of the story, and our community doggies exemplified the positive aspects of it.

Community members, from different walks of life and possibly without much in common, had found in the two lovely and silly doggies something to care about. I came to know some neighbours because of these two doggies.

Now about 10 days ago, I realised that our community doggies were not around. At the beginning, I was not worried because they always used to move from one house to the other, but then I understood they really had gone.

I soon discovered that a neighbour had moved out and taken with him the doggies.

I do not know if he is the 'legal' owner or the person who initially had taken care of them as they were spending the nights in the house where he had his flat. But, in all truth, I saw many people feeding them, so I never thought they had a real owner.

I am sure this person is taking care of them well, but I do miss these two doggies a lot, and I bet I am not the only one. I wanted to write about them earlier on, but I always pushed back the idea. Now I am doing this, eventually and, sincerely speaking, I still hope that one day, our doggies will come back. Will the person who took them read this piece?