By Zahabiya Ali, Class XI C
I reached home at 2 ‘O Clock. I couldn’t contain my joy thinking that my wait of two months had ended. I got ready and went downstairs when Hussain and Fatema called me, “It’s all set, the basket is decorated and stuffed with cushions. A cup of milk is ready. We’ll be waiting,” they said. I grinned and left for my drawing class.
My art teacher is the kindest soul and an animal lover. About six months ago, a cat took shelter in her house. Though a street cat, she soon became a pet.
We sit in the workshop, behind her porch, amidst hundreds of paintings, murals, sketches, colours, brushes. The cat would each day survey the class. She would sniff every student’s chair and finally, she’d rest beside my chair.
I have a long and deep love for cats. When I was in Class III, I had bagged the second position in a bookmark making competition and I was awarded a book titled ‘Why cats do that’. That’s when I fell in love with them.
I loved her honey and black fur, I loved her greenish grey, keen, big and dark eyes, I loved the way she’d purr, I loved her steady and measured steps. Somehow I felt that she too loved me.
Once, for a few days she didn’t turn up in the class. When I inquired, my teacher told me, ‘She is a mother now. She gave birth to three kittens’ and added, ‘I won’t be able to take care of all of them. I would be happy if someone adopts them’. I jumped off the chair in excitement. I would certainly give anything to adopt one of them.
But the kittens needed to be fed by their mother. So, I had to wait for two months. I spent this time mostly in convincing my family members. To tell them how much I loved cats was to try and explain them what water tasted like. My dad did agree to an extent. He was okay if I kept the kitten for a day or two. But mom wasn’t so easy to convince.
‘Zahabiya, can you live without me?’
‘No mom. Never. Not at all.’
‘You need me all the time, don’t you?’
‘Yes, mom. You are my mother.’
‘Then how do you expect that little animal to live without its mother?’
‘I’ll be her mother’, I said. End of conversation. Everyone was against me even on the day she was supposed to be brought home. Except of course, my brother and sister, Hussain and Fatema. They too were waiting in earnest to welcome to kitten.
It was 3:50 pm. 10 minutes and the class would be over. But a problem arose. How would I take her home all by myself on a two-wheeler? This problem was solved in no time. My teacher put the kitten in a rattrap, placed it in a bag, handed it to me and offered to come home with me carrying the package in her hand.
At home, my grandma, my aunt and my mom glared at me. But when they saw the kitten, even they couldn’t help but sigh and admire her. I felt relieved. We named her Oreo. Oreo was very scared and kept searching for places to hide. She would not even sit in her basket. We made a tent for her on our balcony.
Everyone was gone, but I stayed there the whole evening to look after her. When she had had a little milk and a biscuit, I was relieved and thought that she was beginning to accept me. She fell asleep and I left with my friends. I returned home at 8 ‘O clock. As I rushed upstairs to meet Oreo, my mother stopped me, ‘Return her back, right now.’
I ran to my room, locked myself in and cried. Tears rolled down my cheeks. My face was red. It was dreadful. They banged at my door. I don’t remember what they were saying, I did not pay heed to any of it. Meanwhile, my dad found the kitten and put her in a tub. He called me and spoke to me. He asked me to accompany him to my teacher’s house with the kitten.
Oreo rushed over to its mother and they both started licking each other. Immense love. They looked at me in despair. Finally, she picked Oreo in her mouth and soon was gone. I felt helpless, shameful, guilty and lonely at the same time.
I know in my heart that if Oreo had been at my home for a few days, it might have worked. On the other hand, I felt that it wasn’t right to separate the kitten from its mother. Today, I only have memories and a photograph of her. I wish I was a catnip, so that she loved me and would have stayed with me forever.
