If you haven’t already played Raji: An Ancient Epic, then you absolutely should. It’s a terrific passion project from Nodding Head, an indie studio based in Pune, India, telling a story steeped in India’s own culture, mythology and architecture.
For those who have finished it, you’ll have hopefully stayed for the credits and seen something interesting. Credits, I think, are always interesting – they’re after all the names of people responsible for making this game happen. Credits might also tell their own stories of a game’s development, such as the special thanks given here to Epic Games, who had provided a grant to Nodding Head after the game’s unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, or to ID@Xbox, who helped give the game a larger platform (even if it would launch on the Switch first).
The most interesting tidbit in Raji’s credits, however, is left right near the end: the Nodding Head Doggos.
I’ve seen names of newborn babies and pets given a mention in games before of course, but something struck me about seeing 12 dogs given a mention by a small indie studio (one of them turned out not to be a dog, though more on that later). As it turns out, nine of these are owned by the studio’s co-founders Shruti Ghosh and Ian Maude. Nine! What a huge and busy family that must be. They’re not just any dogs, however, but stray Indian breeds that they have rescued, fostered and then adopted.
That’s not all, as since the pandemic, Shruti and Ian have also been feeding and caring for strays on the streets of Pune, all while tirelessly working to finish Raji.
Saving India’s street dogs is Shruti’s real passion, though given the country has more than 30 million strays, there’s only so much the team are able to do. Their care and rescue operation unwittingly began a few years ago when they adopted their first dog Hailey, ironically while going out to buy a new plant.