Kirankumar V S, local ward member, says Eldho became part of everything – weddings, rituals, housewarmings, birthdays, festivals. He escorted children home from school, walked alongside the elderly, and never once hurt anyone. He knew his turf – from the ward’s northern tip, along the lake to the west and east, down to Puthukulangara in the south.

“If he vanished for a day or two, everyone would come searching for him with a small meal in hand,” says Sanakan.

He had one special weakness – milk cake from Shanmukhan Super Stores. “We all bought it for him. Eventually, people started calling it the Eldho cake,” Sanakan laughs.

When news broke of Eldho’s death, and the autorickshaw drivers planned a statue in his memory, the whole community pitched in. Sculptor Jayan V K, a state and national award winner, and his nephew Nibin V G crafted the lifelike figure that now watches over Kozhivettumveli junction – a tribute to the stray who became a legend.