It is the story of a hero; and of man’s love and faith in animals that must be told. In mid-April, in Matheran, barely 80 km from Mumbai, a couple of horses, Heera and Panna, stood tired, huddled in their make-shift stable at horse-owner Rakesh Kokale’s home.

Rakesh, on his part, would rush about all day, dashing off emails to potential donors, even friends across India and then, bolt off to meet local politicians to beg for a dole for his animals, day after day. And now, he was on the verge of giving up.

On April 19, 2021, when Maharashtra Police’s Inspector General of Police – Training, IPS Ravindra Sengaonkar read a report in a national daily about how, 400 horses in Matheran, which catered to the tourists in normal times, risked starving to death owing to the slump in business following the second lockdown imposed in Maharashtra, his heart sank.

“How could this happen? The horses that provided so much joy to thousands of visitors, mostly children, to Matheran, in good times, can’t be left to die like this,” he felt. Mr Sengaonkar knew that he had to do something...and fast! “An animal provides unadulterated love to humans. At such a time, when they need our help, we must act,” he says. Mr Sengaonkar’s German Shepherd Sultan is gentle as ever with his three-year-old grand-daughter Sarah. “It is a case in point,” says Mr Sengaonkar who says he can trust Sarah with Sultan much more than he can trust any human in his place.

Within just a day, Mr Sengaonkar rushed across a policeman to Matheran to check on the antecedents of one Rakesh Kokale, quoted in the news article while alongside sharing a plea for donations for Matheran’s horses within a group of his trusted friends. After all, “with so many being scammed in these times, it was better to stay safe than sorry,” he felt.

“It was touching to see so many friends, even those retired contributing with whatever they could for the horses,” said Mr Sengaonkar. And, in all, Mr Sengaonkar and ‘friends’ managed to cobble together a princely sum of `163,000 for the benefit of Matheran’s horses.

And, the first week of May 2021, in all, a whopping 152 bags of wheat bhusa “procured from Gujarat” were dispatched to Matheran for the horses. The bags ensured food for the horses for at least 15 days. “At a time when nobody from Matheran, not a single affluent hotel-owner or local politician came to our help, it was Mr Ravindra Sengaonkar who took it upon himself to help us,” recalls a grateful Rakesh, petting his ‘children’ Heera and Panna, who got their daily meal, for now.#

Article contributed by Gajanan Khergamker. He is Editor, Solicitor, and Documentary Filmmaker heading think tank DraftCraft International. He is the Founder Editor of The Draft.