Find Happiness at Pawppiness – The Dog Café

Find Happiness at Pawppiness – The Dog Cafe

Meghna ‘Phoenix’ Ghatak

Studies have repeatedly claimed that one lives longer and happier when they have an animal to love and be loved, be it at home or on the streets. The busy and congested city life, coupled with hectic schedules has kept many dog lovers from adopting a beloved pooch into their homes. Many youngsters renting out apartments in both small and big cities have to actually follow guidelines requiring them to not keep pets of any kind. Then there are people who had bought pedigree breed dogs but found it difficult to keep them in the confines of their homes in the absence of a caretaker.  For all these problems, the Varlani family had a 'pawfect' solution to offer to the city of Bhopal – the city’s first ever dog cafe.

Bhopal's First Dog Cafe

In 2019, when dog loving siblings Tanisha and Bhavesh Varlani visited a pet cafe in Mumbai, they were so enamored that they asked their father, Mr. Sanjeev Varlani to introduce the concept in Bhopal. On 5^th July, 2019, Pawppiness – The Dog Café commenced spreading happiness with puppy paws (and hence the name pawppiness) in the city for people of all ages. Puppies that were once discarded have found a new life here and they, after basic obedience training, cuddle with the customers, who pay per hour to be around these little stress busters.  People cluster around this cute army clicking selfies, that easy snooze in ones’ lap and give one tons of kisses on demand. Customers have to follow certain rules inside the cafe to avoid any mishaps, such as not bringing any shoes, eatables, important documents and destructible items.

The Dogs at the Cafe

The café presently has a cuteness overload consisting of a Beagle named Booboo, a Husky pup named Sasha, two Pugs named Achie and Cola and two Shih Tzus named Pepper and Whiskey. The Varlani family takes good care of these dogs who are fed solely on Pedigree, properly vaccinated by a designated doctor, Dr. Mukesh Tiwari and even given a weekly off on Mondays. They have a full time caretaker catering to their every need in the café, and who also doubles up as their cameraman on popular demand. At night they gang up at the Varlani family house and smother them with love during bedtime, while the older ones live at a family farm like an extended family.  The family also introduced street dogs into the cafe and sponsored a non profit organization called ‘Protect our Stays’ but the visitors didn’t take well to them. Still Mr Varlani wishes to install water trays and food plates for strays outside his cafe as his next endeavor.

Visitors - Adya (10) and Madhumita (50)

Visitors mainly comprising of school and college going students clamor all day here, to clutch a puppy that frequently fall asleep in their enthusiastic laps and relieve their weekly stress levels. When the team of Pawcept reached the cafe on a lazy Sunday afternoon, sisters Adya and Namya, 10 and 12, were seen acting as beds for a puppy tower as Sasha, Whiskey and Cola had decided to snooze on them. An elderly Madhumita was giving belly rubs to Pepper the Shih Tzu plonked over her back with hair so long, it was difficult to find her face. After their respective playtime, visitors stepped outside the play area, washed their hands and lounged on tables and chairs kept outside, happily flipping through the pictures they had taken with the cuddle army. While some had beverages served, their social media profiles were served with warm memories that was piping hot. Many agreed that if love can be rented for a short duration of time, it was here, it was here, it was here.