FlashNano 2021
02.11.2021
Day 2: Write about a man who owns at least three cats
I decided to visit my cousin in our native village in the holidays.
I hadn’t been there quite a while. Yet, nothing much had changed. My cousin had given her house a fresh coat of paint. And there was a little hut near the entrance of the village, which wasn’t there the last time I’d been here.
There was an old man sitting on an armchair in the verandah of that hut, with a black blob on his lap and two colourful ones on the floor. A closer inspection revealed that all three of them were cats – a mini panther, a ginger and a grey striped one.
“What are you staring at? Come away!!” It was my cousin.
The old man, who till then had appeared to be half asleep, opened his big eyes and saw my cousin pulling me away. As I noticed the sightlessness in one of them, he suddenly appeared fearsome to me. It didn’t help that I considered cats a bad omen, just like the rest of the village.
His bearded face was pockmarked – the sign of a smallpox survivor.
And then, did I also detect a flicker of pain in his ferocious-looking good eye? I had no time to guess; my cousin dragged me back into her house.
Once inside, she lost no time in admonishing me. “Keep away from that house!!”
“Why?” I retorted.
“He’s not a good man.”
“In what way?”
“You’re still the same inquisitive person. He came to this village only last year. Alone. He built this hut and has stayed there since. Look at his eyes and face. Do you detect anything friendly?”
“But..”
“There’s a story that he was once a jailbird.”
My cousin walked away into the kitchen, leaving no room for further discussion and ample space in my head for curiosity.
The next evening, my cousin had to go to the city for some work. This was my chance. I set out on the pretext of a walk and straightaway approached the hut.
The old man was in the same position, as if he’d never moved since the previous day. But not the cats. The black cat was lounging at his feet, the ginger was playing with a fallen leaf and the third one was staring into space, as if he’d seen some invisible ghost.
The old man suddenly opened his eyes and glared at me. Despite the fear gnawing in the pit of my stomach, I kept staring at him.
I suddenly became aware of three more pairs of curious eyes staring at me.
I was unnerved. But I held my stare.
Quite suddenly, the old man smiled. I was taken aback.
“Come,” he said in a gruff voice, gesturing at the parapet. “Please have a seat.”
I was to later realise that he had a naturally gruff voice – another put off in a happy social relationship. I moved forward.
After I was comfortably seated on the parapet, the old man spoke.
“I’m sorry I can’t offer you water or tea. I don’t clean my house. You may not want to have anything from here.”
The curious cats were still staring at me. And I was staring at the old man.
“Do I look like an alien from another planet?” He asked, petting the panther.
“Er, n-n-no..,” I ventured, even as I tried to prevent the ginger from coming too close.
“He won’t harm you. Trust them.”
“Uh, yes.”
“Come on, tell me, do I look alien?”
“Um, no.”
“Then stop staring!!”
I lowered my eyes.
“You’re the first person in the last one year to dare to stare at me like this.”
“Huh?”
“And also to enter my verandah.”
I humbly looked on.
“Yes. No one comes here or talks to me. Even the shopkeepers open their mouths only to tell me the amount of my bill.”
I kept staring.
“These cats are my only companions. See this black one, he’s Blackie. People hate him more than they detest me. This ginger is Coffee and that one staring into space is Stripe. He stares into space all the time.”
I detected a note of affection in his voice as he introduced his pets.
I did not hate cats. It’s just that we had been brought up to believe all those superstitions about cats. They should not cross your path. If you touch them and even a single hair from their fur coat comes off, you have committed a thousand sins. And so on.
And now, I’m surrounded by three of them who were taking an avid interest in me. Even Stripe had switched from staring at invisible ghosts.
“You are curious about me, right? Just like the rest of this place.”
I felt too ashamed to say yes. I just smiled.
He continued to talk. “Then let me tell you why I am what I am.”
I sat up straight. He laughed. I’d given away my curiosity.
“I was given up at birth to an orphanage. I never knew my parents. I later heard that I was born out of wedlock to a woman who was later married off to someone as per her parents’ wishes.
“Life at the orphanage was hell. We kids were unwanted both to society and to this place. Somehow, I was adopted by a nice couple and was freed from this hell.
“As you can see, I’ve survived smallpox. My foster parents took very good care of me. That’s why I’m here to tell my tale.
“My adoptive parents were fond of cats. That’s where I got this passion for them.”
He lovingly petted Coffee, who brushed himself against his feet. The other two came running forward to him. It didn’t need rocket science to understand that they too were asking for pets. He obliged them. I felt a soothing feeling in my heart as I witnessed this human-animal bond.
Nothing escaped the old man’s eye
“They’re so sweet, right? Well, let me continue.
“Good things don’t always last. When I was in my final year towards becoming a doctor, fate ensured that I was orphaned again.
“I somehow completed my studies and began my career as a doctor. There were ups and downs, but I managed to move forward.
“Then I fell in love and got married. This was a big mistake.”
My eyes widened.
“There were all the signs before marriage that my wife wanted a partner who could give her time. My practice was flourishing and I was the most wanted doctor in the hospital where I worked. My long hours did not go well with her. She left me.
“I was devastated. But I was used to loss and soon immersed myself in work. I was literally idolised for saving lives. I enjoyed it. This continued for several years, till…”
He choked, paused for a moment and continued.
“One fine day, one patient was brought in late by his very influential family and I could not save him. The family vandalised the hospital and got me arrested.”
I was shocked.
“I was framed and landed in jail. That was when I realised that professional popularity does not help when you are in trouble. I spent ten years in jail. I was tortured both in body and mind.”
He gestured to his eye and then the wall behind his chair. I saw a pair of crutches and gasped.
“When I was released, I was a nobody once again. I moved to an obscure village and set up local practice. I survived for several years till someone came to know my history. I fled overnight and came here.
“My past refuses to leave me. In all these years, I have noticed that only these furry creatures have remained my friends through thick and thin. I have befriended all the stray cats I’ve come across in my life. I’ve fed them, nursed them, taken them to vets when needed. They are also a maligned and hated species here. I guess that’s the common thread that binds us.
“When I came here, these three were the strays around who struck an instant chord with me. They are now my family.
“I’m old now. A frail man on crutches who just cooks to eat and survive – and feed his cats. These cats are all that keep me going.”
“I don’t know but this is the first time I’ve poured out my story. My age and experience tell me that you have a story of your own.”
I was tempted to pour it out, but decided otherwise. My heart went out to this man. Stripe was still staring at me. Slowly, I extended my hand towards the little creature and he immediately came forward. I patted his head. He meowed and started rolling at my feet. As expected, the other two came forward.
Five minutes later, all the three of them were at my feet.
The old man laughed. “I’m jealous!!”
I laughed too. And realised that it had been a long time since I’d guffawed so heartily.
It was getting dark. Much against my wishes, I took leave of the old man and returned to my cousin’s place.
But I was a changed person now. Yes, I remained the middle aged spinster that I was, who had given up all thoughts of marriage in favour of taking care of numerous siblings. I remained the person whose siblings were settled all over the world, barely in touch with me. I remained the person who was always subjected to curious stares and nasty remarks for daring to live my life alone.
But I’d learnt a lot. That there are people worse off than you. That I should not bother about the opinions of the rest of the world.
And most importantly, I had found a solution to my loneliness. I dialled a friend’s number.
“Hi dear. You said the other day that you had an orphaned kitten available for adoption…..”
Image courtesy: Alamy
