It was the summer of 2019 when I opened the door to the wailing sound of a cat. She was a lone, regular visitor for food with an exception this time. She got two of her munchkins along with her. At first, I wondered who left these balls of cotton at my doorstep. Upon closer look, I was surprised to see these furry creatures breathing. My heart melted away.
I rushed inside and asked my sister to come take a look at this marvel. We were just left spellbound and simply stared until mom came to the scene. We urged her to keep the mother and kittens inside the house despite my asthmatic condition because the kittens were still immobile and fragile. After all the suasion, our mom allowed refuge to prevent any external threat. Meanwhile, "mother cat" seemed to be more wary and anxious.We conjectured that she might have lost one kitten whilst searching for a safe shelter. It was a painful sight.
As weeks passed by, the kittens got the monicker as Peepy (because she's always very curious) and Snowy (because...well, you guessed it right!). I agree we were terrible at assigning names. Interestingly, my kittens never objected to it and their mom was simply called mother cat for the sake of parlance.
These siblings were very energetic as they grew up, playfully fighting and sleeping together. It was so special a feeling to have them around but sometimes, given their vigor - they would cross the rooms at lightening speed, getting their heads hurt near furniture or nearly escaping an injury from getting crushed underneath the foot. That set off a paroxysm of anxiety amongst us. Once, Snowy jumped off from my mom's hand while she was petting him and hit his head on the floor. My mom burst out in tears and stroked his head gently as he lay there motionless. We prayed to Almighty to show us a sign of revival and within few minutes, he made some movements. I was grateful. I took him close to my chest and felt his tiny muscles contracting and relaxing. His heartbeat pumped some life in us. That incident left a strong mark in our memories.
A month passed by, we did regular check-ups and there came a time we had to part ways with the kittens. We have a tiny apartment in Mumbai and it wasn't good enough for cats who started falling sick indoors. They had to be let out although we were skeptical of leaving them outside in our area, which was notorious for predators and vehicular accidents. A colleague of my mom's - Shabana, also fondly called "Shabu" volunteered to take care of this family of 3. A kind young woman, mother of 2 kids had recently lost her mum to a terminal illness. Despite being completely naive in taking care of animals, she still took them in her tiny chawl without any hesitation. Her accommodation had the benefit of spatial manoeuvre for these territorial creatures.
Her spouse wasn't keen on taking care of the cats but he somehow got attached to them. Despite modest savings, he would get them special food to eat occasionally. The cats loved them too. One day, mother cat disappeared mysteriously - She was never found but Shabu and her kids found comfort in appreciating that at least kittens are safe and healthy. Months rolled on, Snowy grew up to be a handsome cat and Peepy was adorable. However, the downside was they frequented sequestered areas in pursuit of mates. Snowy wasn't fortunate because one day, he was mauled by a pack of dogs. Shabu was informed of this by a kid in the neighbourhood, who immediately rushed to the spot only to witness him bleed near the neck, paralyzed.
Her husband rushed from work to take the helpless cat to the hospital. He paid Rs 2K as deposit before admission. Shabu was disorientated because she hadn't healed from the demise of her mom but she said woefully to her husband, "It doesn't matter if we exhaust our life savings on this cat. I just want him to be fine." Alas, Snowy couldn't be saved...His nervous system was badly infected and the surgery ended with him being pronounced dead. When I heard this news over call, I had a breakdown but I can't imagine what Shabu or her family went through in a bid to save Snowy. Even Peepy keeps searching for him and waiting for him to turn up miraculously for they were two peas in a pod - fought, ate and slept close to each other. And we never wanted to separate them even during adoption. Sadly, destiny had some other plans!
It's true as they say - Small coffins are the heaviest.
She didn't turn up to the institution post cremation but my mom revealed that she felt sad and guilty that someone else who willingly took care of our pets, cleaned and watched over them like their own had go through an ordeal like this. Meaning someone had to cope with something so undesirable because we allowed them to take it upon themselves. When she came to work after few days, she was still reeling under loss but even in that state of mind, she innocently expressed her desire to let Peepy to have a little one of her own before spaying her... To allow her to mate and allow her natural instinct of adventure to engage into the most natural yet dreaded process in this milieu.
Despite all the misery, the purity of her thought made me just smile.
I've never met Shabu in person but I want to hug her and tell her it will be alright and Snowy will be happily waiting for us near the rainbow bridge.
Who didn't have the fortune of even completing one year of his birthday, left us with this void. You are the most beautiful and endearing thing I've ever felt. I am sorry for my absence in the most critical moment of your life. Rest in eternal peace, my sweet child.
