Friday, February 23, 2007

CA(ugh)T in the Act

I once picked up a stray dog when I was 10 yrs. Forgot its name. My folks never approved it and the worst was that, it was never recognized to be a living thing. I dug a pit for that and coated with cement to make a water bowl. And robbed a few pints of milk to keep the creature alive. It hadn’t even opened its eyes when I brought it in. It grew pretty well and even responded to my calls. And one day it vanished. My strongest suspicion was on the housemaid. I recognized that dog in all the dogs, that I saw. And hoped for long that it would find me back. It never did.

My passion then turned to cats. My cousin’s house was just opposite had plenty of them. That old grandmother, old servant maid and cats were permanent fixtures in that house.

My first two attempts to bring the kitten home was a disaster. Once I got bitten even before I could lay my hands on it. Second was a bit more successful. Brought it home and the place it chose to settle was the toilet and into the closet that too. And straight it walked into the kitchen from there. The fact I am alive writing this today after that incident just tells me that there is a greater purpose of my living in this earth. God would not have saved me that day, unless He had some definite plans for me, am sure.

Third one was the most hilarious. My uncle was at home and I enlisted his help for ‘Project Kitten’. He should have been catching cats all his life I suppose, as he easily picked the smallest and put it in a bag. And for the house just opposite, we had to take a circuitous route. He never forgot to tell me that kittens are smarter than us and they would find the way home. So, we had that infamous trek.

Midway, his dhoti got loose and he asked me to hold the kitten bag, which I promptly refused after the experience of the first bite. He had no other choice but to leave the bag down. Smart kitten move, inside or outside the bag!! And we had a moving bag right on the street, much to the chagrin of my uncle. He was fairly pissed about my ‘cat catching’ qualities. I never excused myself for that. It pained to think that I wasn’t good enough to even catch a cat. Such a demotivating thing it was.

Anyway, after that I neither tried nor manage to catch anything.

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