Ojasvini Geetika

Says Ojasvini Geetika Ganju, Media Producer, Master-of-Ceremonies and TV Anchorperson, tipped by Femina as one of India’s most talented MC’s. Ojasvini Geetika Ganju has hosted and managed a range of activities like television shows, print campaigns, ad-films, tele-serials, events, product launches/promotions, beauty contests, music concerts, jubilee celebrations, film premieres/book releases, award ceremonies, appszozo.comconferences/conventions…, fashion shows, etc. In between all her activities, Geetika loves coming back home to her best friend and lil’ baby ––‘Peppy’. ‘Peppy Masaba Ganju’, a beautiful 9 year old Pomeranian, is the centre of existence of Geetika and her family. ‘Masaba’ is a word from African language, meaning ‘The Loved One’. In a tête-à-tête with Dogs & Pups, Geetika reveals her love and passion for Peppy.
“We’ve never had dogs, nor did I have any inclination towards them. My brief interaction with pets was at my best friend’s house Nisha. To my utter surprise, when in college and a month before my Birthday, Nisha presented me Peppy in a cane basket. She was so tiny and adorable that I instantly fell in love with her and bought her home. On seeing Peppy, my mom was shocked, my dad was utterly petrified and my brother ‘Niklhil’ thought I was mad. It is amazing how Peppy settled in and became an integral part of all our lives and as on date is a complete BRAT!!
To a certain extent, she has really changed the way I think and feel. With her so close to me and being such an important part of our family, compelled me to become a vegetarian, I felt more compassion towards animals. But as for Peppy, she loves mutton, and God forbid, if we forget her meat schedule, the little one will go on a strike and stop eating, making us realize it’s meat time for her!!
What amazes me most about her is that inspite her age, she still behaves like the baby of the house. She loves to play with her two dolls, the best part being that these dolls had been mine as a child and now they are Peppy’s. She still loves her daily round of ‘Tug of war’ and ‘Kick the ball’. If she does not get it, she would sulk till you give it to her.
She has lovely eyes — but is a complete Drama Queen — gets exactly what she wants. She can open doors when she wants to, knows exactly how to do it. She loves my mom and follows her around everywhere. My mom and she spend a lot of time together talking and playing, my mom takes care of her food too. My father takes her for walks. My speciality with Peppy is in the Cuddles, she loves me to cuddle her and nobody else in the house is allowed to do that. Peppy expresses clearly when she wants to be touched and comes and sits right next to me, demandingly.
What I love most about her is that when I come back — the excitement, zest and enthusiasm she shows is completely incomparable. The next thing I love about her is that when she sleeps with me — she would put her head exactly like me on my pillow and in the morning would paw me. Through my sleepy eyes, I can see this zoom-in version of Peppy — looking right into my face — kind of telling me ‘hey lady- just wake up…’ This is just hilarious. Also a strange fact is that when she is sleeping with my dad, she loves to sleep on his feet — with me remember it’s my pillow!! And these days, I literally have to plead her to come and sleep in my room.
Inspite of my parent’s apprehensions they are completely in love with Peppy. She really misses them when they go on a holiday and is more attached to them.
We once took Peppy on a holiday to Dehradun. She was both excited and frantic, actually she did not realize what was happening and kept standing for 5 hours. It was an experience completely, I was the lucky one who shared the back seat with her and when I alighted, I was completely scratched!!
Some of my favourite antics of peppy include her love for peas and that too, the Safal peas only. Peppy is completely brand-conscious and only loves a particular brand of soya. Coming to tea time, she only and just loves Marie biscuits. Oh yes! She loves tea, so much so that she only has tea made by a particular person in the house.
Peppy’s favourite treat is Bhutta – she loves eating it and messing the place. So it’s a conspiracy between her and me for her ‘Bhutta-Time’ – with a pact with my mom that I clean up after her.
All our Birthday cards have Peppy’s name — she is totally a part of our family and a little Queen. I love to call her ‘Little Miss Muffet’. The whole house revolves around Peppy’s needs and wants. My sister-in-law ‘Neha’ is completely terrified of dogs and jokes that she has to fulfil the whims and fancies of her second mother-in-law — Peppy! Initially she was scared of Peppy but now both of them share a platonic relationship.
The only thing which irritates me about her is her toilet training, and this I feel is not her fault, but ours. Occasionally she has a problem of crapping in the drawing room and guess what she likes – the carpet. She simply does not like being left alone — would ruffle the bedcover or displace pillows — leading to a total chaos.
I would really like to pay emphasis on the equal handling of the dog by the members of the family. Like in our case, to meet her medical needs, it is only me who can take her to the veterinary doctor, any body else would be snapped at. Also we really tend to spoil a dog as like a little child we get over-protective and pamper them because of which they develop bad habits. It is in their interest that we must teach them the right things. That’s what best for them!! For me, Peppy is a big emotional support and completely fantastic and is my darling. A complete COE (Centre of our Existence) of our family!”