I have a cat. It is very lazy. I have never seen it hunt or do anything tiresome. It sometimes eats the flies that fall down below the lights. All the time it lies down and mews when it is hungry. If I put some rice on its plate it complains and demands for something else. If I pour some butter milk, it asks for milk. If I put some milk, it asks for cream. If I do not oblige, it mews around for a while and tries to find something else interesting to eat. If it does not find anything else, then it silently eats what ever is offered on the plate and goes back to sleep. Items fried in Ghee are its favorites. It is irregular with its timings and if I put its food on its plate and call it to eat, it does not bother to move until it is really hungry. Then ants and crows feast on its plate and later when the cat wakes up, it starts pestering me again. I think its sense of smell is underdeveloped as it stupidly moves without realizing that food has been served unless I put it on the plate in front of its eyes.
One day I put its usual quantity of milk on its plate during lunch time. The cat just drank half of it and went back to sleep. I do not like things to be wasted. So I dragged it to the cow shed and started explaining it how difficult it is to get milk. I showed it how the cow has to be fed, cleaned and milked. Then the milk has to be boiled. Only then can the butter and ghee produced. I told it, “If you do not value the industry and still want to drink milk, you can milk the cow yourself from tomorrow”.
Neighbor Kittu was passing by the cow shed and heard the last phrase. Kittu loved to gossip. When he reached the grocery store, he started “Did you know that Ananda, my neighbor has a wonderful cat? It has special intelligence and Ananda was able to teach it how to milk a cow”. The grocer said in disbelief, “No way!!” Kittu continued, “Yes really, I saw it with my own eyes. When I was walking towards the shop, both Ananda and the cat were at the shed and the cat filled the entire bucket as we were watching. Ananda was happy and told the cat to milk the cow by itself from tomorrow. I think the cat was a great yogi in its previous life and hence it remembers the past.”
My bored cat went back to sleep after my sermon and continued its vile ways. One noon, it was no where to be seen during the lunch time. It had probably found a frog or so in the garden. I did not like my cat eating meat. So in the evening when it returned, I angrily picked up the gunny bag over which it slept and moved it outside my house. I made a temporary shelter for it from rain and sun and told it, “If you can not follow the rules of my house, you have no right to stay in it. Take all your utensils and stuff and live outside from now. Then you can live the way you want.” I expected the cat to miss living with me and change its habits for the better.
The next day Kittu was telling somebody in the market place, “My suspicion was confirmed yesterday. The cat being a hermit wants to meditate and live by itself. So it has moved out of Ananda’s home and built a cottage for itself. I saw Ananda move all its stuff to the cottage and then kneel before it and request it to live the way it used to in the previous life. If you want you can come and see for yourself”. Many curious villagers came by the cat’s hermitage to check. They were initially skeptical but then when ever they saw the cat, it was always engaged in deep meditation with its eyes closed. They bowed down with respect. They wanted to ask Ananda more about the miracles that the cat performed but Ananda was always in silence and never spoke to the villagers.
Days rolled by and the cat slept in the shed and mewed at my door when ever it was hungry. It dared not to enter as I would chase it away. Out of compassion, I continued putting some food on its plate in the shed and it enjoyed sleeping there all the while. I saw that some villagers visited its shed and somebody even had placed some kumkum outside the shed. I was disappointed with my undisciplined cat and was least bothered about it. Though the rainy season had long started it had not rained this year. In the nights there was a stay male cat that started disturbing my sleep by its loud cries. I did not want the cat to lay a litter and create more trouble for me. So when the male cat came next night, I approached my cat and told it, “This male cat will just mate and run away. The responsibilities of raising the litter will the thrust down on you. Being as lazy as you are, you will not be able to bring the little ones properly. Do not expect that I will feed your family”. I tried shooing away the male cat but it would not comply. So I started making some loud noise with my puja gong and threw some twigs and fire sticks at the unwelcome visitor. The cat was persistent and I had to repeat my commotion. Drunkards returning home saw this but I did not care. Then it started raining and I retired for the night.
Kittu went early to the market square and told his friends, “You know the cat saved us from a big famine this year. Though it is an entire month since the rainy season started it had not rained a single drop. Last night Ananda married off his cat. I woke up to the sound of some puja and came out to investigate. I saw him chanting some divine mantras, make a fire and offer sacred sticks into it. The stray male cat from the village and the yogi were married and they took rounds around the fire. The Gods were pleased and sent the rains. Did any of you ever see a cloud in the sky till today?” Rumors also spread that the Gods attended the wedding, which was actually a divine sacrifice and then the five Gods appeared and granted a wish each to the cat and this time there were lots of witnesses to testify.
Meanwhile at the end of the rainy season, what I feared did happen. My idle cat gave birth to a litter with 5 kittens. The villagers started visiting the cat more often and started putting lots of food in the shed. Their frequent noise disturbed me and I started yelling at them.
Kittu said, “Ananda is angry because he is selfish and does not want to share his gifts with us. Each of the five kittens is an incarnation of the 5 base deities and will bring their owners tremendous luck.” Soon enough all the kittens were taken away by the villagers and Ananda thought “Good riddance”. But the stupid cat would not leave him.
-Ridiculed by AtmaAnanda
One day I put its usual quantity of milk on its plate during lunch time. The cat just drank half of it and went back to sleep. I do not like things to be wasted. So I dragged it to the cow shed and started explaining it how difficult it is to get milk. I showed it how the cow has to be fed, cleaned and milked. Then the milk has to be boiled. Only then can the butter and ghee produced. I told it, “If you do not value the industry and still want to drink milk, you can milk the cow yourself from tomorrow”.
Neighbor Kittu was passing by the cow shed and heard the last phrase. Kittu loved to gossip. When he reached the grocery store, he started “Did you know that Ananda, my neighbor has a wonderful cat? It has special intelligence and Ananda was able to teach it how to milk a cow”. The grocer said in disbelief, “No way!!” Kittu continued, “Yes really, I saw it with my own eyes. When I was walking towards the shop, both Ananda and the cat were at the shed and the cat filled the entire bucket as we were watching. Ananda was happy and told the cat to milk the cow by itself from tomorrow. I think the cat was a great yogi in its previous life and hence it remembers the past.”
My bored cat went back to sleep after my sermon and continued its vile ways. One noon, it was no where to be seen during the lunch time. It had probably found a frog or so in the garden. I did not like my cat eating meat. So in the evening when it returned, I angrily picked up the gunny bag over which it slept and moved it outside my house. I made a temporary shelter for it from rain and sun and told it, “If you can not follow the rules of my house, you have no right to stay in it. Take all your utensils and stuff and live outside from now. Then you can live the way you want.” I expected the cat to miss living with me and change its habits for the better.
The next day Kittu was telling somebody in the market place, “My suspicion was confirmed yesterday. The cat being a hermit wants to meditate and live by itself. So it has moved out of Ananda’s home and built a cottage for itself. I saw Ananda move all its stuff to the cottage and then kneel before it and request it to live the way it used to in the previous life. If you want you can come and see for yourself”. Many curious villagers came by the cat’s hermitage to check. They were initially skeptical but then when ever they saw the cat, it was always engaged in deep meditation with its eyes closed. They bowed down with respect. They wanted to ask Ananda more about the miracles that the cat performed but Ananda was always in silence and never spoke to the villagers.
Days rolled by and the cat slept in the shed and mewed at my door when ever it was hungry. It dared not to enter as I would chase it away. Out of compassion, I continued putting some food on its plate in the shed and it enjoyed sleeping there all the while. I saw that some villagers visited its shed and somebody even had placed some kumkum outside the shed. I was disappointed with my undisciplined cat and was least bothered about it. Though the rainy season had long started it had not rained this year. In the nights there was a stay male cat that started disturbing my sleep by its loud cries. I did not want the cat to lay a litter and create more trouble for me. So when the male cat came next night, I approached my cat and told it, “This male cat will just mate and run away. The responsibilities of raising the litter will the thrust down on you. Being as lazy as you are, you will not be able to bring the little ones properly. Do not expect that I will feed your family”. I tried shooing away the male cat but it would not comply. So I started making some loud noise with my puja gong and threw some twigs and fire sticks at the unwelcome visitor. The cat was persistent and I had to repeat my commotion. Drunkards returning home saw this but I did not care. Then it started raining and I retired for the night.
Kittu went early to the market square and told his friends, “You know the cat saved us from a big famine this year. Though it is an entire month since the rainy season started it had not rained a single drop. Last night Ananda married off his cat. I woke up to the sound of some puja and came out to investigate. I saw him chanting some divine mantras, make a fire and offer sacred sticks into it. The stray male cat from the village and the yogi were married and they took rounds around the fire. The Gods were pleased and sent the rains. Did any of you ever see a cloud in the sky till today?” Rumors also spread that the Gods attended the wedding, which was actually a divine sacrifice and then the five Gods appeared and granted a wish each to the cat and this time there were lots of witnesses to testify.
Meanwhile at the end of the rainy season, what I feared did happen. My idle cat gave birth to a litter with 5 kittens. The villagers started visiting the cat more often and started putting lots of food in the shed. Their frequent noise disturbed me and I started yelling at them.
Kittu said, “Ananda is angry because he is selfish and does not want to share his gifts with us. Each of the five kittens is an incarnation of the 5 base deities and will bring their owners tremendous luck.” Soon enough all the kittens were taken away by the villagers and Ananda thought “Good riddance”. But the stupid cat would not leave him.
-Ridiculed by AtmaAnanda
2 comments:
Very Kafkaesque.
Who are you ridiculing, nevertheless?
As I read again, I realise that this is, perhaps, a frivolous post or a rant. I found it Kafkaesque purely because of the intricate story telling - each episode is reported in great detail and description - images and symbols the post carried. It must be your cat that you have ridiculed.
Do disregard my previous comment.
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