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Spice of life | Raining cats and dogs throughout the year
The first cat Malvika brought home was from Canada. She told me that it was not difficult to train a cat. She was right. The cat trained me in a week! Cats have a mind of their own
You don’t need the monsoon for it to rain cats and dogs. The two rain throughout the year at my place.
For me, a confirmed dog person, I consider my four-legged furry friend to be nature’s greatest creation. He is perfect. Lord Byron, the English poet, says this about a dog: “Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity and all the virtues of man without his vices.” This praise, which would be flattery if inscribed on a human’s grave, is but a just tribute to the memory of Boatswain, the dog.
Ben Williams, a doctor, explains it easily, “There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.”
There are other attributes of a dog. They can sniff and locate drugs to perfection. They are also used to sniff out people lost in an avalanche buried under tonnes of snow. There is, however, a caveat to this. The person must be alive, this means body heat. Scientists put this down to the dog’s heat-sensing infrared sensor in the nose! Now doctors are experimenting with a dog to sniff cancer in patients.
And then there are cats. I am not a cat person and would’ve never kept one but for the past 15 years, I’ve been living with one. Let me clarify, the cat has not been living with me.
My daughter, Malvika, is a cat person. The first cat she brought home was from Canada. Malvika told me that it was not difficult to train a cat. She was right. The cat trained me in a week! Cats have a mind of their own, they are not loyal, faithful or obedient. If they have any intelligence, they don’t show it. Actually, I think they have a short-circuit in the brain. That’s why they are easy to please.
The other day, Malvika bought a pair of shoes and the box was on the floor. The cat spent all day playing with the empty box! Last month was cat’s birthday. I thought I should do my bit. I went to the shoe store and asked for an empty box. The sales lady was shocked to say the least. She was a professional and recovered her composure soon enough. “What size, sir?” she said. “Big enough for a cat to fit in,” I replied. Pat came her answer: “We are out of stock, sir.” Not everyone shares my opinion on cats.
Albert Schweitzer, a musicologist, philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, had this to say, “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life; music and cats.” I guess he knew something that escapes me.
Malvika’s Canadian cat died. So, she got another one. The two cats could not have been more apart in demands and behaviour. This one wants individual attention at all times. Meows loudly for it! Malvika works from home. She can be on Zoom on the computer for hours. The cat feels ignored. At the end of the day, Malvika is through; she closes the laptop and leaves the room. The cat jumps on to the table and meows angrily at the laptop.
Dogs have masters, cats have slaves. But whether you like cats or dogs, there’s no doubt that they are a gift for humanity. hkishiesingh@gmail.com
The writer is a freelance contributor
