The feline visit

My first house after marriage had a huge balcony. The flat was situated at the end of a long corridor from the staircase. If our balcony didn't have a grill, someone could easily jump into it from the passage corridor outside!:-0  But, our balcony did have grills, so, there was no such threat. So why am I rambling about my house and the balcony? Just so that you can picture it correctly in your mind. Well, even if you can't just read ahead, please.

It was on one afternoon that I got up from my post-lunch siesta and as I opened my eyes, I saw a huge brown cat at the door of our bedroom. As I gave out a loud scream in shock, the cat (probably equally shocked) made a dart towards the balcony and vanished. Now, am not a very animal friendly person. And, anyway, a sudden unsolicited appearance of any kind of creature in my territory, startling my bones, can only evoke such a reaction. The cat went away but I was left searching every corner of the house to see if it had left any other marks of its brief stay or if there were any more surprises. Convinced of its absence and of any traces, I closed the doors to the balcony. I kept a wary eye out for its subsequent visits but to my relief, none happened for some time. Relaxed, I let my guard down.

A few weeks passed. It was the rainy season. That evening, it was pouring cats and dogs. The hubby came home and went to dry out his umbrella in the balcony and made a casual announcement that we have a family of cats visiting us. I rushed in horror to double-check (hubby knows my love for the animal and reptile kingdom and is capable of saying such things just to spite me), and sure enough there were three cute little kittens along with the mother cat (yes the same one who gave me a fright not long ago). So, the little imp (the cat, I mean) was planning this all the while. Taking advantage of a poor lady staying alone for most part of the day in a huge house. Well, the house wasn't so huge but of course the balcony was and she occupied it with her kittens now. 

Even though I cannot stand the thought of having pets, least of all cats, I didn't have the heart to drive them away. To be frank, I fell in love with the tiny kittens. The mother would go off in the morning to find food and these would be left merry-making or sleeping huddled together. One of the three kittens, a white one, was the cutest and naughtiest. While the other two would sleep, this one would prance about trying to climb on to the nearby window ledge :-)

 During their stay, we made sure, we did not step into their territory. The mother, whenever she was around, would keep a stern and ferocious guard and let out an angry purr, even if she sensed us coming near her kittens. We for our part played our roles as gracious hosts and kept out of their way, only sneaking a look every now and then to see if there were there or not. I was in fact even worried about their safety from the pigeons, who were also frequent but transient visitors.





 The feline family attained prime spot in the conversations between me and my family who'd be eager to know how the new members of the house were doing, if they were still there or had abandoned their new-found shelter yet.

The visitors stayed for a full two months. And one fine day, just as suddenly as they made an appearance, they all  left. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss them.

45 comments:

  1. Aww! Such a sweet post! I remember having similar guests with their kids. I gave them milk and biscuits to eat and Yes, I did miss them after they left!

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    1. Hey thanks, CD!! :-)
      I was apprehensive of giving them milk or biscuits, fearing they might stay longer than intended :-)
      Btw, I have noted your comment on Wordpress blogs and your comment takes one to your blogspot blog. Do you mind letting me know how that is done? I am having trouble commenting on WP blogs (it asks you to login) and use my FB account to do so.

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    2. I don't know re! Din't you log in to the account from which you were posting the comment?

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    3. I am logged into my blogger account while commenting while WP accepts comments either from a WP, FB or twitter account only :-(
      hmm..anyway...

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    4. Aree.....sumbit your email id in the instructions they ask below! That way you will be logged in. It should be a gmail id, I guess.

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    5. areeeeee..woh toh theek hai lekin website wala column blank rakhna hai kya??..wait I'll do a trial comment and come back..

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    6. nahi.....blank nahi rakhna!copy paste your blog's link in the website coloum and try.
      Let me know if I was helpful :)

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    7. yayayay! done..arrey the problem was that I had created a WP blog sometime back but didn't move to it, so when WP asked for the login, it would go to the WP website. I had to change the website in the gravatar account. Now it directs the link to this website..phew!
      hope you understood my ramblings :-D
      in short..problem solve ho gaya :-)

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    8. Done dana done! Aree....I am not less than a tubelight! :P
      Koi nahi! I understand! :D :)

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    9. arrrey...of course..:-P :-)))
      thanks re..for helping and understanding :-)

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  2. Awww! thats so so adorable!!

    I get scared rey baba..you sure have guts to let them stay :)

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    1. Well..I am scared too..I didn't go anywhere near them..:-)

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  3. awwwwwwwwwwwww... cho chweeet! I am not any pet person either. But I like cats... as in they are touch-n-go, selfish types. ;) in fact, our ex-residence also housed a cat (i will blog about her)... and those kittens are supppper cute... did you know, I call my Aa a kitten?

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    1. Please do blog..and am about to bug you on your blogathon..you keep saying, will blog on this and that..hmpf!
      in marathi, a cat is called "mau" and is often used as an endearment by many..so, Aa is "mau" too..how sweet! :-)

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    2. don't worry dear, blogathon is still on. Just my state of mind isn't right. and attempting a blogathon during such times will make me churn out horrendous posts! :)) hehehe... and please do keep bugging me, it fuels me with the necessary encouragement ki i have at least 1 reader. :P :)

      btw, Aa is not "mau". I call her "Majja peel" which means cat's kitten in Konkani. :)

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    3. "Majja peel" Aa...she's a cutie pie :-)
      yes, I understand about the state of mind..mine came to its senses only when R was around one and half..that's when I started blogging..still I don't have the himmat to start a blogathon!
      you are great to even think about it :-)))
      but, I'll still bug you, 'cause you asked for it..:-P

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  4. Cats are like that. They just go away one day.

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    1. ah, yes..they are quite selfish like Purnima says..well am not fond of them as such, so its ok :-)

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  5. So cute!!! They must have been so adorable - the pics are lovely :)

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    1. They were really cute, Aparna.
      thank you :-)))

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  6. You write very well,Uma.There is no mention in your post about your placing milk daily for the kitten in a saucer.They would have then not left your balcony so abruptly.

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    1. Thank you so much, KP sir, for the kind words. Coming from you, it means a lot.
      well, I didn't keep the milk fearing that they may never go :-)

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  7. Aww, they look so cute, all huddled together!! Loved your post, Uma, you string your words so well. I too am not very fond of dogs/cats!!

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    1. Hey Vibha, thank you so much..you are as usual being kind with your compliments :-)
      As long as these don't come near me, am fine. So, no pets for me :-)

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  8. That was a very cute post and the pictures really adorable... But I feel scared of them somehow :/

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    1. Though I don't run at the sight of them, I don't like their proximity either..but these looked really cute and I couldn't resist taking snaps :-)

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    2. Oh yes they are very adorable no doubt about it!

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  9. Hey Uma.. soo long since I caught up with posts or blogged :(!
    Raining "cats and dogs" LOL ;) !

    Looking forward to our meeting :).

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    1. I know, Aparna. You seem to be content with your new-found hobby and FB, which is also great but please don't abandon blogging altogether. I miss reading your blog posts and of course I miss my regular reader too :-)
      I am pretty excited about the meet too :-)

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  10. The kittens are adorable!! :-) Btw even I am quite "Darrpok" and if given a chance, I don't think I wouldn't go near them!! :D

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    1. hehehe on being a "darrpok"..looks like many of us are that way, so no worries..we have company :-)))

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  11. Very sweet post, Uma! Looks like you are missing your feline companions:)

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    1. thank you, Rahulji!
      hahaha..not missing them but yes, just took a trip down memory lane :-)

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  12. hahah....cute post...first time here..:) Like KP Sir said, I was wondering, "oh, she didn't give them milk?"..I am not a cat friendly person, though.

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    1. Hey Found in Folsom, thanks and welcome here :-)
      hehe, yes, I didn't give any milk because am scared and didn't want them to stay very long :-)

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  13. Lovely story Uma.....u knw in Kerala there is a saying tht if a cat makes ur house her home Luck comes into ur house & if a dog leaves it's bad luck:-).
    We have pigeons doing this to us all the time....unlike cats they are soooo messy;-(.

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    1. yeah, I have heard of the saying too, albeit with a twist..the cat is supposed to have the kitten in your house to bring lady luck. Unfortunately, in my case the cat just shifted with her kittens to my home ;-)
      urrrgh..pigeons are dirty and dumb birds! ;-(
      thanks, Nancy! :-)

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  14. We too had cats coming to our balcony with small kittens, when young. Once, we found some kittens in our toy shelf inside the house! We used to play with the kittens till the cat returns. These days, cats don't come to our house! :(

    Destination Infinity

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    1. kitten in the toys shelf!!! :-0 But at least they are cute looking things..
      Welcome here, Destination Infinity! :-)

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  15. right I hate cats , dont ask me why , I dont know. and here in uk every other house has cats as pets ..
    I am more of a dog person and bird person .. When I was in india I had some, I mean they are still their only I am here now , had some love birds and Parrots too ..

    but it is good to visit memory lanes

    Bikram's

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    1. Many don't like cats. There is something cold about them.
      I love birds too. A trip down memory lane rejuvenates you many times, isn't it??

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  16. That's a sweet tale. See how they stole your heart. :)

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    1. yep, they did steal my heart for a little while :-)
      Thanks, Divya!! :-))

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