Yet another cat story

Bobs

Zachariah is one of my favourite writers in Malayalam. The latest issue of Mathrubhumi (Malayalam weekly) carries one of his short stories titled Karunan Cat. Since I have three cats of my own and two of my neighbour’s that seem determined to eat only with my ones, any writing about cats draws my immediate attention. When Zachariah writes, the attention becomes ever more engrossing.  

The story is set in Delhi of 1977. Karunan, the cat-protagonist, is living in an upper middle class household in Defence Colony. His great ancestor was a Persian cat that was gifted by the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, to one of his beautiful concubines. After Shah was exiled, the concubine slept with many British VIPs and the Persian cat had many local mates. In spite of the miscegenation of his ancestors, Karunan had all the charms of the Persian ancestor and hence was loved by the upper-class Delhiites who fed him the purest cow milk.

But Ramakrishnan and Nalini are going to divorce and hence their pet Karunan is faced with a dilemma. So he walks out of home and is eventually adopted by a rich American woman who takes him to her country. Karunan is happy to go with her because her fairness makes him think of her as a super-Brahmin. The lady loved Karunan with all her heart. So she bequeathed all her property to him before her death. Thus Karunan became the richest Indian cat in America. Karunan lived in luxury until his natural end, the fate which none of us can avoid even if we are the richest or the most powerful. The lady’s relatives constructed the most beautiful mausoleum in Texas for Karunan. Watching the news about Karunan’s mausoleum, Nalini in Delhi is excited. She thinks that her ex-husband, Ramakrishnan, had sold the cat for a huge sum of money to the American woman. Like Karunan’s ancestors, Nalini too had many lovers. The last one was a godman. The godman could not endure Nalini’s love for long. He dies leaving the ashram’s hundreds of acres to Nalini who converts it into a luxurious resort which employs all the devotees happily. Ramakrishnan is writing his autobiography. Delhi is now a different place from 1977. Indira Gandhi and her emergency are all forgotten. A new history is being written. Like Karunan Cat, many heroes are being made.

My synopsis doesn’t do justice to Zachariah’s story, I know. But I loved the story for reasons that I cannot comprehend. Maybe, Karunan reminds me of my Bobs. Bobs is my beloved tomcat. These days he has a rival, who comes from somewhere, whom I have named Modiji because of his eloquent aggression. Modiji comes stealthily and attacks Bobs ferociously. His attacks are like the regular price hikes and tax hikes and other agonies that our country bestows on us unfailingly. What can Bobs give, however? He runs screaming for his life and I rush to defend him from Modiji.

I want Bobs to be able to write a success story. Why should history belong to aggressors only?