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Friday, November 15, 2024

We are ALL Responsible...but are we?

They just barged into the community garden one fine morning and cut down some trees, removed the grasses, and killed all the flower beds in the name of “refurbishment” and “general maintenance”...

The birds who had their nests in those trees have lost their eggs. They fly around trying to find a suitable place to rebuild. The cat who used to run around, climb trees, and jump in the grasses was stressed and confused. Where's the planter she pooped in? There’s just mud everywhere. What happened to the garden?
If someone murders a garden in the name of renovation, what happens to the entire ecosystem that thrives on it? Birds, cats, insects…who cares about them? It's high time we stop normalizing these urban activities in the name of “development”.

Who is responsible for all the lost animals and birds? All they care about are paint flakes, steel pipes and waterproofing membranes. What about the soil enriched with live insects? What about the planters with flowers , the butterflies flitting around them? What about the laughing doves, who stopped laughing? It's not funny! Someone destroyed the garden and people around it are expected to continue living “normally”??? The cats have left the compound. There are no more dancing shadows of the trees on pathways. No more ‘red carpet welcome’ of the Jatropha flowers. No more ‘frangipani fest’ of my most loved Plumeria trees. No more barefoot walks on the grass. No more yoga, hide-n seek or badminton in the garden. Everything has to pause till they finish all the work…My favourite almond tree with red leaves is no more. The bulbuls have lost their home. I tried to save the frangipani I planted two years ago into a large planter for it to be replanted later in the same spot after the repair works are done, with a hope that it will survive the next few months in this make-shift arrangement. Does anyone else care? Is this a maintenance contract or contract killing!

The other day I heard, a school trip had gone to the “zoo” where the seals clap their hands in front of a gang of giggling gadget-held school kids. They are taught to believe, this is all “normal”! Watching another “sea world” inside a big mall, they are told, is perfectly normal!!!

Is it “normal” for tourists to expect getting “snow” inside a mall in the desert? Since when is chopping down full grown trees to deal with waterproofing issues considered “normal”? Is this what “developed” nations look like? Let's discuss this “environmental issue” sitting inside a tall air conditioned glass tower. Let's invite delegates with their private helicopters and planes to throw some light on these “earth issues” Let's make a fancy summit for social media! Wow! One million “likes”! Problem is solved!

We are taught to believe we are privileged to live here? Ironically, we are the “ landscape architects” of such masterplans! I would definitely prefer living in a village to this kind of pseudo development! Cutting down large trees is not acceptable. Disturbing any garden environment should not be allowed. No wonder all the “Rumis” who loved the gardens so much are running away in search of greener pastures… but all they find are more and more concrete jungles and blinding bright lights!

We have to ask the question to those “Environment Protection Acts”, how come approvals are not required before mercilessly chopping off mature trees even in private developments? For every slaughtered tree, there should be two new ones planted. Isn't that the rule?

Does anyone take note of the disruption to flora and fauna? Who is responsible for broken bird nests and lost cats? We are all responsible…but are we really “responsible”?




Monday, November 11, 2024

Does Life give a Third Chance?

Ever since Rumi was lost and found last week, I have been trying to keep her indoors, afraid of losing her again and again. But she’s someone who loves her freedom and fiercely rebels against any kind of confinement. Whenever we have kept her in the pet boarding for upto 2 weeks, she has exhibited aggressive behaviour, towards us and especially towards the vet. Ever since they started the refurbishment works in the community garden, I had sensed, Rumi was a bit disturbed and disoriented. Her habit of running really fast, getting into elevators, and escaping out of our compound to mingle with some street cats, particularly one from that lot, has kept me worried lately. Honestly, I should have kept a close watch on her recent whereabouts…

Whenever I have kept her confined on the terrace, she has always found a way to climb down the parapet and find her way out. She has mastered the art of opening the mosquito nets on windows with her nails to get out of a room or to get into the neighbour’s homes! To be very honest, I have always received complaints about this particular wild child of mine from the neighbours, security guards and almost everyone in the compound.

This Tuesday evening after having her dinner, Rumi, was very restless to go out of the house. Very habitually, I let her out… and now I think I shouldn't have! She has been missing ever since…AGAIN! It's been five days now and we have been looking for her EVERYWHERE just like the last time. All around the compound, inside empty apartments, parking lots, elevators…

I checked the CCTV footage from Tuesday evening where she was seen in the main lobby, walking out of the main entrance of the compound. She was seen around the building later that evening as well. (Oh why didn't I go out and bring her back then….)

I have been searching day and night in the entire block and the next on foot. No luck. I keep waking up in the middle of the night to look for her from the balcony…I have told the gardeners, maintenance people, children, everyone to keep a watch on a white cat with a black heart shaped mark on one side and kohl-lined eyes… The MISSING posters are stuck everywhere, again.

My dear Rumi! Where are you?
I understand, you did not like to be locked indoors. You miss some of your hiding places in the garden. I know, you loved your freedom, loved to explore, climb trees, catch birds, kill lizards… you had found a friend in that other street cat who looks a bit like you, someone unlike the purrfect Persian pet cats within the compound, which you secretly hated! Perhaps, you didn't want me to hover around you anymore… you wanted to run free? You came to our lives as a meek kitten that we rescued from the street. But maybe now, you wanted to lead your life on your terms, with your own kind? May you find the freedom you were looking for...perhaps in a more wild adventurous place , suitable for you…

I never wanted to keep you locked up for my own sense of emotional security. Afterall, that defies the purpose of having a pet. Will a bird ever like to live in a cage for life? Rumi, I know you are alive. The doors of our house will always be open for you. Whenever you wish to return or whenever you find your way back, I'll be right here for you, waiting with open arms.

Your favourite sleeping places on the sofa, on top of the cupboards, will still be the same. I'll keep opening the door at dawn, wishing to find you lazing by the doormat. I'll keep searching each morning, each evening all around …with a hope of you coming back home with me one of these days!
My gaze will never give up searching for you, expecting you back home…I'll keep hearing distant “Meows” out of nowhere, wishing for them to be yours…

I hope you are not trapped. I hope you're not stolen! I hope you are safe. I hope you are FREE in the way you wished to be. Is it destiny who has set you free or is it YOU who wanted to set ME free…I've been too emotionally attached to you after losing my mother. My mind, my heart has no emotional energy left to bear another yearning.

As I brush your hair off the sofa, I keep questioning myself…what could I have done to stop this from happening… is anything in our control? In this quest of searching for my lost cat, I’m really looking for an anchor to keep things permanent forever, when in reality, there is no constant. Every element is a variable; every relationship, everchanging. I am searching for something “I” have “lost” to make me feel complete again. Every journey is in continuous motion. Who are we to stop this momentum? In the end, nothing is "mine" , nothing is " yours"...We are just spending time with each other , making memories in this cycle of life. It's all a transit time that we call a life...

Rumi, you’ll stay immortal within the pages of my book, Amaira the little woman. I will never stop loving you. I'll never stop looking for you. I'll wait for you for the rest of this life…my dear Rumalini Kutty Nair ;)

It has taken me three years to learn to live without my mother. I will have to teach myself to live without seeing you everyday. I'll try to convince my mind, my eldest daughter has gone to university to learn life skills and street smartness. She'll be back as a beautiful confident young lady with a curvaceous furry body, thick bushy tail and those same kohl-lined mischievous eyes!
RUMI, PLEASE COME BACK...



Wednesday, November 06, 2024

Learnt my Lesson, Count my Blessings...

In warm weather, our cat Rumi spends the nights outside the house, enjoying her freedom in the community garden, cat walking along thin parapet walls , painting the night red with lizard blood!

She returns home in the wee hours of dawn, lazing by the doorstep, rolling on the doormat till I take her back indoors, ready for the school drill. She runs with the boys till the porch as the school bus arrives, and then takes a morning walk, does her ‘business’ in the planter beds, occasionally ‘slaps’ her boyfriend Simba and gets into fights with the Alpha male of the compound cats, Mr. Grumpy Ginger. This has always been the known routine.

In cold winters, she prefers to sleep in through the night, trying to get inside the boys comforters and be out in the sun by day.

However, since a few months, Rumi has learnt how to go up and down the elevator!!!(just to compete with the big boss cat, Ginger) She steps into the elevator with random children, who allow her in! Since there are only the basement, ground and podium levels, mostly people from the podium level go to the ground level in the mornings. Rumi skilfully reaches the ground level and takes a stroll outside the compound gates!! Later, she steps into the elevator again, someone presses the podium level button and she's back! She’s been enjoying this a lot. The neighbourhood cats have become too smart! Everyone has been noticing this lately. But deep inside, this has been scaring me. I have often seen Rumi in the visitors parking lot outside the compound and have forcibly picked her up and brought her back to the garden. She exhibits a fiercely independent streak and just doesn't like compromising on her newfound freedom. She has found a new friend on the streets who keeps calling her outside. I've been so hassled…

On the Saturday before the Diwali week, Rumi didn't come home in the morning as she always does. This has happened a few times and she’s generally found her way back by Saturday afternoons. However this time she didn't return even by Saturday night. We went out and came back, but there was no sign of Rumi.
I was starting to get stressed. I somehow tried to sleep through Saturday night, hoping to find her by the doormat on Sunday morning. But she wasn't there.

We went to the gym and returned. Rumi was nowhere. This was getting serious. The boys and I started searching first in the basement parking, all elevators, entrance lobby, then all around the compound. Then in the entire block , looking all along the pavements. But Rumi was nowhere to be found.

I used to always wonder if we should attach a GPS tracker to her collar. But she used to lose her collar almost every month, in trees and bushes and I had to weave new ones for her each time. She has always been a very adventurous wild cat, never sitting in one place. The entire Sunday went by searching and calling out. We asked all the neighbours, security guards, random people. This was now a matter of life and death. It was almost 48 hours and no news about Rumi.

I made “Missing Cat "posters and stuck them EVERYWHERE. Then finally, I went to the CCTV room and requested to check the footage for the weekend. The security guard was very cooperative. Together, we browsed through the videos, starting from Friday night.
I saw her on camera as she ran out after dinner on Friday night , to climb a tree. She was roaming around in the garden, spotted by various cameras and the last scene was at 8.45pm, when she was seen sitting by the window at block 12. We checked all the footage throughout the night. She was not seen in any lobbies or any entrances on Saturday or Sunday. I was beginning to wonder if anything bad had happened to her within the compound!

I kept tossing and turning the entire sleepless Sunday night. Monday morning brought no sign of Rumi as well. The boys went to school, with no one running beside them till the school bus arrived… I walked around the neighbourhood, my heart pacing at double speed, sobbing …and finally breaking down. What if she had wandered off far away to another sector… What if she had eloped willingly with her street boyfriend!!! Then there was no way to bring her back…

I just didn't want to give up on her. I went to the security guard again to check the second to second footage from Friday night to Saturday morning. Finally after two hours, I concluded, she must be definitely trapped somewhere. The security guard happened to mention that some folks from block 12 had moved out on Friday night. She was seen last sitting by block 12. I thought what if she had got locked into the empty apartment of the people that had moved!!! The guard informed me that the key was still with the tenant and he was supposed to return it by afternoon. I tried opening the ground floor kitchen window and tried calling out to Rumi. But there was no answer.

The boys returned from school and that's when the tenant of block 12 came in to handover the keys of the empty apartment! I said to the boys, “Lets just check one last time”. We went in. I was looking at the kitchen side as I thought she might have climbed in from the kitchen window. Arhaant checked the store room. Abhiir went into the balcony that opened on the roadside….. “RUMIiiii”He cried! There she was! Poor little thing, sitting in the corner of the balcony…caked in sand…wishing for someone(US) to save her!

I took her in my arms. So frail, so thin, she was without food and water for almost 60 hours!!!

I had decided, I won't celebrate Diwali if we didn't find Rumi…

Finally she was with us again… So so grateful to have her back! We took her home, gave her food and lots of water to drink. She was a little panic-stricken. She wanted to run about. I let her run free, fiercely watching over her as her mum did when she was a kitten. She slept through the night and ate double the amount of food.

Finally after a good 24 hours, she was back to normal. Her playful self. We gave her a nice warm bath.

Life has given us a second chance with Rumi. Life has given her a second chance with us! I thanked goddess Laxmi for giving Rumi back to us. Rumi is my real treasure. My daughter in another avatar! My child, who actually looks the most like me! I cannot imagine my life without Rumi. Together we meditated on Goddess Laxmi Mantra on the puja day.

In our childhood stories, there used to be a giant who’s life was trapped in a parrot's. If the parrot dies, the giant dies. I could understand this metaphor only today. My life is entangled in Rumi’s. I realized how much she means to me. In fact, all of us realized how we cannot live without her…

Looking at Rumi sleeping on the sofa at home just brings so much joy to me. This scene is what I need to be happy.

Diwali this time, indeed brought us a whole new beginning, reconfirming my faith and my priorities.

Learnt my lesson, count my blessings, Look to the rising sun, RUN RUN RUN…