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Cats on the wall and everywhere!
We live in a tiny apartment in a multi-storeyed building complex. This provides shelter to a number of families. But, the members of the family, Felis Domestica, who have taken a fancy to our complex, might very well outnumber the residents. Because these quadrupeds with retractable claws, who can boast of country cousins live lions, tigers, lynxes and ocelots, fear no one in our vicinity.
The increasing feline population possessing nine lives up their claws bothers everyone but also provides comic relief to many. These cats have their own strict demarcations about territory. The ground floor, first and second floor mousers keep to their floors except for hungry forays into the kitchens across the lines of control. Some of the tomcats find cosy corners for a purring sleep in places where there isn't room to swing a cat in, such as the watchman's cabin, where they might have found the fellow catnapping. God has gifted these cats with two voice boxes one for purring and another for meowing and a few of the feline sopranos in our locality keep all the residents awake with their nocturnal orchestras on special occasions.
However life for these grimalkins in our apartments is not as easy as catwalking especially when it rains cats and dogs. Sometimes they too find themselves in a pretty pickle. Like when our bulky neighbour in a catsuit preparing for the CAT Examination sleepily stepped down from his bed at midnight right on a still more sleepy kitten. The unlucky gibcat let out a catcall and our neighbour fearing that there is a catburglar inside his bedroom yelled back with vehemence and refused to enter it till the Black Cats were called.
Let us skip the identity of the brave young gentleman, as I don't want to let the cat out of the bag. Some of the residents who wish to be clean like a cat in pattens get irritated when these grey cats mess up their things. The hawks among the residents strongly feel that these cats should be driven out with a cat o'nine tails. But the doves are undecided waiting to see which way the cat jumps. Well, we don't know who is to bell the cat!
Paul Savio Levin, X
Chennai: St. Bede's Anglo-Indian H S School
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