We had just returned after my performance at the temple on Shivaratri.Happy that it went off well,I climbed up the stairs with a song on my lips.I stopped short ,for I heard a piteous 'meow'!Wondering where it could come from as none of my neighbours have pets,I went up to the terrace to investigate.There in the dark lay a tiny kitten,abandoned by its mother and siblings.I went back with a small basket lined with soft cloth and gently picked it up.The little kitten sank its sharp teeth into my skin!A tigress she was!I brought her home and her mews grew louder and more frantic.I realised she must be hungry,so brought a small saucer of warm milk and put it beside her.It was then that I noticed she had yet to open her eyes!She had no clue about lapping up the milk.So I tried feeding her with a dropper.She resisted any contact and in the tussle,a little milk spilled onto her lips.Her tongue darted out and she liked what she tasted.After that, she willingly opened her mouth and gulped down a few drops of milk.Satisfied,she curled up in the basket and slept fitfully! That was our first day with Sheru,as we named her.
The next day she opened her eyes and trusted me a little.I fed her several times a day.It was like caring for a new-born.The whole day went off feeding her,cleaning her and making her comfortable.After a couple of days,she learnt how to drink from a feeding bottle.As she was very tiny,we had to feed her several times a day.I teach and am away for long hours.So I would take her in a basket along with milk and her feeding bottle.My excited students would take turns at feeding her and playing with her.Attendance in the class improved remarkably! Even during tests all the kids would turn up!Sheru grew bigger and started jumping out of the basket to chase the kids.Class times were full of happy laughter! As the days went by,Sheru grew more and more mischievous.She loved little cardboard boxes and would hide in them and play hide-and-seek with us.She would carve out a window in thin boxes and hide in them.As we walked past,she would put her paw out and playfully scratch our feet!She loved investigating all the curious in the living room.If she did not like something,she would quietly push it down and look in satisfaction as it crashed to pieces!Slowly,many things were either removed or broken by her! She loved climbing onto the flat screen television and would take pleasure teasing us by walking on it!She would clamber up the showcase and jump down with a big clatter on the keyboard of our desktop!Nothing was safe anymore!
After drinking milk for a few weeks,she suddenly stopped drinking it.Her weight dropped and I took her to the vet.She somehow would sense where she was being taken and would fight tooth and nail to get off his table! He advised imported cat food.So we brought home a pack.She was thrilled by it and ate endlessly.She grew bigger and stronger and look in disdain at anything else.The queen would eat only imported salmon-flavoured cat food! We had to go to distant suburbs to get it for her when the local pet store had no supplies.She was pampered and took it in her stride.
She was very fast on her feet.I got her a couple of plastic balls to play with.She loved chasing them for hours on end.Later,I started crumpling up paper and tossing it far off.She would make a dash for it and like a retriever,fetch it and deposit it at my feet!It was amazing and she never got tired fetching!I then started trowing the paper balls upwards.She would jump high and catch it midway in the air.She loved showing off her skills in front of visitors!A true showman she was!She could sense a visitor was scared of her and would set about making her as miserable as possible!Many of my friends who are scared of animals stopped visiting me as she scared the daylights out of them! She hated being left alone at home and would mew piteously as we turned the lock in!That made us extremely guilty.
She loved chasing sparrows and pigeons ahe could see outside our windows.She would sit absolutely still watching her prey and suddenly charge.Since we had a protective mesh she never could get to them and she would watch disappointed as her meal took off into the sky! It must have been one such thing that fateful day of Shivaratri,exactly a year since she walked into our lives.I did not see her for a while so I went looking for her.I called out her name several times,but she did not emerge from under the furniture as she usually did.Puzzled,I went all over the house,looked under the furniture and drew a blank.It was then that I noticed the mesh of the bedroom window was open.She must have fallen out of the window chasing a pigeon that usually sat outside.Having never gone out of the flat by herself,she probably did not know her way back.We hunted in vain all over the neighbourhood.She had disappeared sans a trace. Sheru came into our lives like a breath of fresh air,infusing our life with joy.She will always be remembered fondly.
