chennai every morning as day breaks over the city it is prayer time for auto driver r rajendran and his family and while his two children both in their 20s may be reluctant to get out of bed so early one member of the family always makes it on timejoe the familys obedient pet dog appears for the prayer as rajendran gets ready to light the oil lamps and joss sticks for the past six years she has been his constant companion not just in the puja room but at the dinner table and even during his arduous journey through the bustling city to earn a livingi have never gone anywhere without her ever since she came to me as a twomonthold pup says rajendran as he prepares for his daily ride with joe she has been a source of comfort and affection if there is no passenger with me she sits in the backseat but when someone gets in she curls up under my legs in the drivers cabinthe 44yearold man from varadharajan street t nagar has notched up more than one lakh kilometres with his dog over the course of six years though the noisy city and the enervating everyday journeys have hardened him in many ways rajendran believes joe has always helped him retain his humane sidethrough her i have learned to be a patient driver a better listener and more focused man we both understand each other and read each others minds i dont always need to tell her what she should do explains rajendran who used to run a vegetable shop in t nagar two years agorajendran who got joe a native breed as a gift from a relative says his pet has even accompanied him on long journeys including a trip to neyveli about 220km from chennai where she attended a temple ritualtravelling with his pet has its flip sides too on many occasions passengers have refused to travel with a dog next to them but he is more than happy to turn them down for rajendran his dog is more trustworthy than any human being and he wont leave her behind even if that means earning a little lesshe still remembers the time when he was separated from joe for three days during the december 2015 floods many parts of the city were flooded and joe went missing she did not turn up for three days i was sure that she would come back but i realised i couldnt live without her he sayson the fourth day when she returned he felt like he was being reunited with a longlost daughter i cannot explain what i felt when i met her again now i dont want to be apart from her for even a minute he says