The Walk of Cats

EXT NIGHT

29 December 2022: After having dinner at a Japanese restaurant, Anne and D, along with their friends, are going back to their Airbnb stay in Chennai. They decided to walk back to the stay because it was close by.Anne and D’s friends suggest they order ice cream before they start walking so that by the time they reach the Airbnb, the ice cream is already there. So everyone orders the ice cream flavours that they like and have never tried before and starts walking towards the Airbnb.

Anne and D walk together in front, with their couple friends behind them.

D wanted to ask a question that had been circling his curious mind since the day Anne told him she liked cats. As D was a dog person and didn’t get a chance to understand or experience how it feels to be with cats, he asks Anne:

 

D: Hey Anne, I have a question for you.

 

Anne: Go ahead.

 

D: Why do you like cats?

 

Anne: Cats, that’s an interesting question.

 

D: Hmm.

 

Anne: Actually, I used to hate cats.

 

D: Interesting, then?

 

Anne: There’s a story behind it.

 

D: Accha!

 

Anne: Haan. So a few months ago, I saw a kitten on the road that had been abandoned by its mother. I don’t know what made her do that. But yeah, I saw this kitten. It was injured in places while trying to move out of the waste thrown around it. It was white and bright. It looked as if a pearl had emerged from a dustbin. Lying near an electric pole, it cried for help. My friends and I brought it to our PG. That’s also an interesting story.

 

D: Ohhh! I am all ears.

 

Anne: So we brought the cat to the PG, but no pets were allowed there. (Anne giggles.)  Then what we did was wrap the kitten in a shawl and put it in our backpack. Everything was set except for the part where the cat might purr and the warden would get alerted. And that is when my genius comes in. I started watching some cat videos on YouTube and walked towards my room with my roommate and the kitty in my backpack.

 

D: hahaha. Are you serious?

 

Anne: Yes, it felt like I was on a mission like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.

 

D: Wah! My Ethan hunt; aur uske baad?

 

Anne: Uske baad kya, we entered the room and kitten ko bahar nikaala.

 

D:Accha!

 

Anne: Haanji. Till that particular moment, I hated cats, but the cute cat changed my mind; he was so happy after we cleaned his wounds and looked after him.

 

D: He’s a HE.

 

Anne: Yes, a he. He used to follow me around the room. He slept on the window sill at night, and by the time it was morning, he would be on the bed, sleeping near my head. I would see a zoomed-in and blurred version of his tiny paws as I opened my eyes every morning. Acting like a head heater, he had become my everything for a few days. We decided to take him to the shelter, and later he found a home. I was very happy for him.

 

D: Oh! Did you meet him recently?

 

Anne: No,(taking a brief pause)I can’t. He is dead.

 

D: (*shocked*) What happened? How?

 

Anne: So he fell from the balcony of his home and .

 

D: (*D interrupts) That’s sad.

 

Anne: Anyways, that is how I met him and started liking cats, and whenever I see cats around, I get excited.

 

D: Yes, I have seen that excitement of yours whenever you see or talk about cats. By the way, did you name him?

 

Anne: Yes, I named him "Hope." He came into my life at a point where I needed that the most, and his entry gave me new hope. But once he went to his other home, the one who took care of him named him "Moon."

 

D: Oh! I see.

 

Anne: There was another cat there too, where Moon found his home. Here, look at this—this is him (Anne turns on her phone and shows a picture of Hope/Moon).

 

D: He's so cute! (🥹D’s face at that moment)

 

Anne: I know, right!

 

D: Yes, by the way, what is it that you liked about Hope?

 

Anne: Like?

 

D: I can give you an example: "Do you know Dhruv Sehgal?"

 

Anne: No.

 

D: Have you watched the show Little Things?

 

Anne: I have, but only a few episodes.

 

D: Great! So the hero of the show is Dhruv Sehgal, who is also the writer of the show.

 

Anne: Oh.

 

D: Yes, So he was asked in an interview that why did he like cats? And he told that they are mysterious.

 

Anne: Oh! So in that way, I like just the way they are and the little things they do.

 

D: Oh, I think you know this—that cats gift their caretakers a gift like fish or anything else they find and can carry in their mouth.

 

Anne: Yes, I do know this.

 

D: Hmm! (D smiles and, in his mind, thinks about the beautiful walk and conversation he just had.)

 

*Abhi Na Jao Chhoda Kar playing in the background

(Both reach the stay and disperse to their rooms)

-Darshan Shanbhag