Skip to main content

Maxima and Minima

Close to my heart


Small things can make me indecently happy or sad. An old friend once compared my mood swings to the maxima-minima graph of a mathematical function. “You are either on the top or at the bottom,” he said like a concerned friend. That was long ago, some time in the 80s. Four decades later, I still remain the same. Painfully aware of the maxima and minima of my mood swings. Helplessly aware. Because they are not under my control. Some things are in your blood. You have to live with them.

A friend of Maggie had arranged the adoption of one of my kittens two days back. Today she told Maggie that the kitten was only crying all the time without eating or drinking anything. That was enough for my mood to hit the bottom. “Tell her to return the kitten immediately,” I told Maggie. “I’ll pick it up from their place.” I couldn’t bear the thought of that little creature wandering around looking for its mother and siblings crying all the while.  Maggie knows when I’m serious. A few phone conversations later, we learnt that the kitten took a day to adapt to its new situation. But after that, it was doing fine. Maggie’s friend was not told about the latter part. Good news doesn’t travel as fast as the bad.

A few weeks back another kitten was being adopted. I was asked to deliver it at a particular place near my school. Having handed it over, Maggie and I sat in our car and watched the person ride her scooter with the kitten. A minute later, the scooter stopped. The kitten managed to escape from its box somehow and it started running on the road. I drove instantly and instinctively to the spot, stopped my car, came out and went after the tiny creature calling it. It stopped running and turned to me. I picked it up and held it close to my heart. It remained there snuggling in my arms. Close to my heart. A day later, I was told that the kitten had become the darling of its entire new family. Close to their heart. My mood wave hit another maximum.

I was never fond of animals until a kitten walked into my life from nowhere. It was an abandoned kitten. People abandoning kittens on roadsides is quite common around here. What moved me was the kitten’s helplessness. Is it pity or love that I feel? I try to rationalise it as pity towards the helplessness of a tiny, innocent creature. But my heart seems to tell me something else. I am yet to comprehend the waywardness of my heart. Maybe, that’s why the graph hits so many maxima and minima.

PS. I must express my infinite gratitude to Maggie's friend who has helped us with the adoption of many of our kittens. Thank you, D. 

 

Comments

  1. Hari OM
    The doctor in my wonders if you have ever been offered assessment; such erratic and defined swings speaks strongly to some bipolar tendency. It is not abnormal to feel compassion for pets - but this sounds extreme... That all said, I am pleased that you are able to find homes for kittens... then the medic in me again wonders at your not having the mother cat/s neutered and thus preventing any further endangerment to your heart?!! (Forgive this pragmatist...) YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is borderline bipolar disorder, I know. Since it's not hazardous to anyone, i let it be with occasional medication...

      There is no neutering of cats here, as far as I know. I had enquired.

      Delete
  2. A heart-warming experience and adorable kittens! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loved reading it sir. Wish you, mam and your kittens great health.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We get attached to pets and it's quite natural that our moods are influenced by them.
    Nice of you to have arranged for the adoption of the kittens.
    Online games and the idea of beauty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had little choice but get people to adopt them because at a time there were 8 of them at home excluding adult cats. I'm grateful to so many people who gladly took the kittens.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In this Wonderland

I didn’t write anything in the last few days. Nor did I feel any urge to write. I don’t know if this lack of interest to write is what’s called writer’s block. Or is it simple disenchantment with whatever is happening around me? We’re living in a time that offers much, too much, to writers. The whole world looks like a complex plot for a gigantic epic. The line between truth and fiction has disappeared. Mass murders have become no-news. Animals get more compassion than fellow human beings. Even their excreta are venerated! Folk tales are presented as scientific truths while scientific truths are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. When the young generation in Nepal set fire to their Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, they were making an unmistakable statement: that they are sick of their political leaders and their systems. Is there any country whose leaders don’t sicken their citizens? I’m just wondering. Maybe, there are good leaders still left in a few coun...

Death as a Sculptor

Book Discussion An Introductory Note : This is not a book review but a reflection on one of the many themes in The Infatuations , novel by Javier Marias. If you have any intention of reading the novel, please be forewarned that this post contains spoilers. For my review of the book, without spoilers, read an earlier post: The Infatuations (2013). D eath can reshape the reality for the survivors of the departed. For example, a man’s death can entirely alter the lives of his surviving family members: his wife and children, particularly. That sounds like a cliché. Javier Marias’ novel, The Infatuations , shows us that death can alter a lot more; it can reshape meanings, relationships, and even morality of the people affected by the death. Miguel Deverne is killed by an abnormal man right in the beginning of the novel. It seems like an accidental killing. But it isn’t. There are more people than the apparently insane killer involved in the crime and there are motives which are di...

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

When Cricket Becomes War

Illustration by Copilot Designer Why did India agree to play Pakistan at all if the animosity runs so deep that Indian players could not even extend the customary handshake: a simple ritual that embodies the very essence of sportsmanship? Cricket is not war, in the first place. When a nation turns a game into a war, it does not defeat its rival; it only wages war on its own culture, poisoning its acclaimed greatness. India which claims to be Viswaguru , the world’s Guru, is degenerating itself day after day with mounting hatred against everyone who is not Hindu. How can we forget what India did to a young cricket player named Mohammed Siraj , especially in this context? In the recent test series against England, India achieved an unexpected draw because of Siraj. 1113 balls and 23 wickets. He was instrumental in India’s series-levelling victory in the final Test at the Oval and was declared the Player of the Match. But India did not celebrate him. Instead, it mocked him for his o...

Whose Rama?

Book Review Title: Whose Rama? [Malayalam] Author: T S Syamkumar Publisher: D C Books, Kerala Pages: 352 Rama may be an incarnation of God Vishnu, but is he as noble a man [ Maryada Purushottam ] as he is projected to be by certain sections of Hindus? This is the theme of Dr Syamkumar’s book, written in Malayalam. There is no English translation available yet. Rama is a creation of the Brahmins, asserts the author of this book. The Ramayana upholds the unjust caste system created by Brahmins for their own wellbeing. Everyone else exists for the sake of the Brahmin wellbeing. If the Kshatriyas are given the role of rulers, it is only because the Brahmins need such men to fight and die for them. Valmiki’s Rama too upheld that unjust system merely because that was his Kshatriya-dharma, allotted by the Brahmins. One of the many evils that Valmiki’s Rama perpetrates heartlessly is the killing of Shambuka, a boy who belonged to a low caste but chose to become an ascetic. The...