I thot I tho a puddy caat!

Introducing The Smooth Sultry Sexiness – Bochu! While Yours Truely was away all these months coping with all her different issues, Bochu was busy too. Busy growing up into her gorgeous self …after surviving a fall from the fifth floor!

(Photo Credit: Aneeka Rahman)

11:50: Explore Naomi’s empty room, run about widly and attempt the climb up the legs of the ironing board

12:00: Pretend to get a scared and skittish when the maid enters the room to clean-up. Take a step towards the maid to see if she will play and get an ugly frown from her in return

12:05: Give a lonely shrug and a sad mew and enter Naomi’s closet to go sleep on her box of CDs. Climb up the box, drag one of Naomi’s skirts down, settle down and make a nice, comfy, warm nest and turn into a ball of snoozing fur

12:30: Look up once and blink as The Royal Evilness (Naomi’s Mom) peeps inside closet to see if I’m still breathing. Make an attempt to show interest in playing with TRE, and end up making TRE scamper away quickly

1:00: Unroll myself from the tight little ball I had curled up into, yawn widely, stretch lazily and decide a change of snoozing place would be mighty welcomed

1:05: Decide to get under Naomi’s bed and curl up in one of the drawers beneath. Scratch the old mosquito net in the drawer and make it all fluffy and soft. Settle down to doze lightly.

1:30: Feeling a little cold, decide to go and sit by Naomi’s french windows and wash myself

1:35: Lick paws, wash face, ears, head, neck, whole body and behind. Licks paws, face, ears, head, neck, whole body and behind AGAIN

1:50: Look out of the window and watch traffic and people

2:10: Prick ears up and pee out of the window, as Naomi’s car honks at the gate. Watch excitedly as car rolls into garage

2:15: Jump up and go hide under the bed as Naomi bounces back in the room

2:25: Stuff paws into mouth and giggle uncontrollably as Naomi spends a frantic 10 mins looking all over the place for me

2:30: Emerge from under the bed, put on a gruffy air and allow Naomi to pick me up and fuss over me

2:35: Gobble down the milk and bread Naomi has put out for me. Refuse the rice and fish Naomi tries to make me switch to (yuck!), give Naomi a tiny cold shoulder and move back into the sunny spot by the window to lick paws, wash face, ears, head, neck, whole body and behind.

2:45: Licks paws, face, ears, head, neck, whole body and behind AGAIN

2:55: Dig my claws into the trailing ends of Naomi’s bed spread anf climb up to the bed. Curl up on Naomi’s pillow and give a deep sigh of satisfaction. Roll myself into a tight, warm ball and kitty-nap for a few mintues

3:05: Open one eye as Naomi creeps back into the room, switches on the AC and tickles one of my ears

3:10: Give Naomi some space to herslef while I dig deeper into her pillow and enjoy a glorious snooze

3:30: Graciously allow Naomi to pick me up and put me on her lap. Reach out and try to scratch at whatever else she is holding ( a book, phone, walkman etc etc) and receive a small slap on the bottom. Lick Naomi’s arm lovingly, hug it tightly, purr gently as she strokes me from head to tail and sigh gently. Zzzzzzz…..

(To be Continued)…

There is no words…no article…no newspaper reports which summarizes what I feel and what we feel as a nation….

I’m Sorry that the body of your beloved father, so smart and upright in his immaculate army uniform, was found mutilated in the sewage waters.

I’m Sorry that your mother; an epitome of dignity; was dragged out of her house, gang raped, bayoneted to death and then dumped – wrapped up in the curtains of your very own house. 

I’m Sorry that your brother, who promised to keep you safe all these years, phoned you to say goodbye before he was shot and burnt alive in his car.

I’m Sorry that your little sister, an 11 year old angel, is now fighting for her life at CMH; a victim of barbaric abuse and gang rape.

I’m Sorry that your husband, whom you married for better or for worse, bled to his death at that very place where he began his life with you – BDR Darbar Hall.

I’m Sorry that your husband, who had always been so warm and loving to you, is now stiff, grey and dead, a bullet hole through his chest where you used to lay your head.

I’m Sorry that you had to look at the face of your dead husband, not recognize his mutilated body and then only be able to identify him by the key he carried in his wallet.

I’m Sorry that your baby, kicking around inside of you, will never get to see his father and only have his photographs to grow up with.

I’m Sorry that your wife, glowing with the happiness of having your baby inside of her, was found sprawled on a bed of blood; your unborn baby’s eyes closed forever before he could even open them once.

I’m Sorry that your little son is now struck dumb – he lived through hell and was witness to so much abuse, that now he has no more words left.

I’m Sorry that you were forced to hid away for two days, forced to hear the dying cries of your brothers, forced to save yourself with the blood of your respected mentor and forced to watch him die.

I’m Sorry that your friends and junior colleagues, so happy and festive just a day before, now lies in a ditch, dead, along with all your other friends.

I’m Sorry that the man who came over to your house just to have a taste of your pickles, can taste no more – he is dead too.

I’m Sorry that your cousins were hunted out, dragged out, smoked out like rats – only to be shot and flung away like used tissue paper.

I’m Sorry that in just 33 hours, you had to live through the 71 Liberation War and emerge shattered or dead from this ordeal.

I’m Sorry that while your family bled, cried and went through 33 hours of hell – we couldn’t do anything but stare on aghast.

I’m Sorry that we couldn’t save your loved ones, take decisions that would have brought back more than the 33 who returned alive.

I’m Sorry that I can’t promise you justice for that day when the blood ran in the houses, offices, halls and down the sewage lines.

And I’m Sorry that within a few days, we will pick up the tattered thread of our lives and carry on…

While for you, though still alive, life had ended on that morning of February 26th, 2009.

The Silent Scream

This is Kitty again. Megan’s cat. He is screaming at Megan. She must have done something real naughty. (Photo Credit: Megan Marsha Barrokh Edwards)

9:00: Wake up, yawn big and shake myself out of the closet

9:05: Jump up and down on sleeping Naomi and whine pitifully

9:10: Continue to whine pitifully and poke sleeping Naomi wiith nose

9:15: Scamper away just in time for the sleeping-mountain-of-a-Naomi to groan loudly and get up all grouchy and grumbling

9:20: Give Naomi some time to take care of morning business

9:30: Start scratching the bathroom door with one paw

9:35: Start scratching the bathroom door with both paws

9:45: Gobble up the bread and milk that Naomi has FINALLY put out for me

9:55: Lick paws, wash face, ears, head, neck, whole body and behind. Licks paws, face, ears, head, neck, whole body and behind AGAIN.

10:15: Watch Naomi in all her frenzy to get ready for class in time

10:20: Jump up and down trying to grab hold of trailing ends as Naomi drags clothes out of closet

10:30: Get inside Naomi’s shoe/slippers and pretend to drive it around a bit

10:40: Get all excited as Naomi brings out her make-up bag and plops down on the floor in front of the mirror.

10:45: Push my nose into the make-up bag and try to bite at whatever’s inside. Get pushed away by Naomi and try try again to get inside the make-up bag.

10:47: Grab a eyeliner pencil with both paws and manage to snatch it away from Naomi

10:48: Roll around eyeliner all over the room, get all skittish and pretend to be all scared of the sounds I am making myself. Imagine invisible butterflies standing on the floor and attack them by trying to roll eyeliner pencil all over them.

11:05: Try to put a paw in Naomi’s bottle of nailpolish and get a slap on the butt for that

11:06: Try to stop Naomi from getting ready by walking all around her in a circle, hoping that she’ll grow dizzy from it.

11:15: Naomi still isn’t stopping, so walk from left to right, right to left and all over her lap in a vain attamept to get some attention.

11:20: Stand on Naomi’s lap and stare deep into her eyes trying to mesmerize her and prevent her from leaving me.

11:30: Make one final attempt to stop Naomi from leaving me alone and going off to class. Put a paw underneath the door to prevent her from opening it. Grab one of her leg with both paws so that she can’t walk away. Dig claws into the ends of her trailing scraf and try to drag her back.

11:40: GIve up and meow sadly. Make big big meltingly sorrowful eyes and stare up at Naomi. Make myself as small and lonely faced as possible. Calmly accept Naomi’s final hug and tickles and walk away with tail between legs as Naomi bounces off to class…

(To Be Continued)…

Wha’sup?

Presenting my friend Megan’s cat – Kitty. He just likes to hang out. (Photo Credit: Megan Marsha Barrokh Edwards)

At 2 am in the morning, she would emerge from her room – my closet – where I had made a cozy warm corner for her to curl about in.  Poking her head in through the door, she would saunter out lazily, stretching first her paws, then her back and finally her whole self until she was thoroughly awake. A slight shake and a small toss of the head – and she would be ready – as fresh as a newly minted penny.

Nemo waking up would be my signal to turn in for the night. Wrapping myself up with the covers, I would switch off the light and wait for the little kid to put me to bed. After a few minutes I would hear Nemo scampering about the room and then slowly and with a lot of effort climbing up my bed. She would then rest for a bit, explore the territory, poke me with her nose a couple of times, and then once again start her slow arduous climb. This time she would climb over me.

Now this was exacty what I would wait for. Lying still helped her maintain her balance while she dug her claws in the cover – and often in me as well – in all her efforts to climb over me. Once there, I always imagined her going through the motions of planting a flag on me and declaring “One small climb for me, one giant leap for catkind” – but she would just wobble for a bit and then start walking.

She would walk all the way from my head to my toe; and back again. And then once again. Her tiny paws were like soft jelly pebbles and the terrific full body massage always managed to make me fall asleep within a few minutes.

And that was what the clever little pup would wait for. For as soon as I was out and away from the world of the living, she would have carte blanche to do whatever she liked in my room. And judging from the scene of catastrophe that met me in the mornings I could guess that she had been upto no good. 

Nemo herself would be tightly curled up  and sleeping innocently in a corner by early morning. But she would always have a tell trace bit of cobweb looped around her ears which gave away the fact that she had been exploring under my bed. My scarves and skirts would micraculously find themselves strewed on the floor, all crumpled up and stepped upon. Any pen or pencil within easy reach would be loitering around on the floor – kicked and rolled over into odd corners. My hairbands and rubber bands would invariably end up under my tables.

One sleepless night I peeped out and watched Nemo. She was under attack from invisible aliens and was valiantly fighting back with a punch in the air and a snap at the back. In the midst of an intense alien invasion she broke off to chase something that was after her tail. After chasing whatever it was that was chasing her, she rolled herself up into a small tight bundle and started biting her own leg.

I guess this is how she managed to make a mess of my room. But she was just a baby cat and was cute and cuddly so I let her have her way. Eventually I even donated one of my skirts to her (she took an abnormal liking to it) and she insisted on sleeping on that it everyday. The skirt even had to accompany her, when The Royal Evilness made me give Nemo away. But loosing Nemo is a tragic story – reserved for yet another day.

Slurp Slurp!

This is Bochu. My current favourite. She was adopted by my friend cum boss cum collegue Aneeka and LOOVES her favourite playmate - Ms. Coco – Aneeka’s dog. Her love for Coco makes her do foolish things. She followed the dog out to the stairs, lost her balance and fell right through the gap between the staircase, and landed straight on the marbled ground below. *Meouch!*

(Photo Credit: Aneeka Rahman)

Nemo was found in Baridhara, right in front of my university. Ok no – that is the version I told my mother – The Royal Evilness. Nemo was found on a random street. This is what I told my friends and cousins. Actually the truth was – Nemo and her mom was found holed up in an abandoned building near a friend’s house. In a dog infested neighbourhood.

Nemo and her mom had just managed to dash in before a whole brigade of dogs surrounded the abandoned building and lay in wait for them. What the kitten and her mom was doing in such a part of the neighbourhood in the first place, still remains a mystery. My friend – I forgot his name – called me up frantically asking for a home for the kitten because both mother-cat and kitten were  starving inside the building and there was no way to get both out. 

Now I knew The Royal Evilness would first die of fright, resurrect herself, kill me in the most horrible way and then die again of fright – if one day  I just happened to bring home a cat. So I had to make sure that my story was so pathetically sad, that it would melt The Royal Evilness’ heart before she went into “attack” mode.

So the story was – Nemo was a poor little lost kitty, who lonely and starving was wandering around aimlessly. Bleary eyes and muttering incohorently, she happened to stumbled across me, saw the glimmer of my halo and JUST knew that I was to be her savior. So she solemnly and silently brainwashed me and as a result of her tremendous ability to control minds by making adorable cute cute kitty eyes – she had me all weak and jelly-like under her spell. And so I fell prey to her control, picked her up and brought her home, in a shoe box donated by a friend – which would later become her favourite litter box.

But in reality, it was much simpler. My friend drove her over, put her in a shoe box and gave her to me. Nemo was really weak and half dead with all the fright and starvation, but she still won me over by her cute melty eyes and her sad little mewlings. So atleast that part was true. I sat with her for a few minutes, got acquainted with her and then took her home to put her cuteness to the FINAL test.

To say that The Royal Evilness (TRE) freaked out when I was climbing up the stairs with a shoe box in my arms will be a gross understatement. TRE turned a ghashtly shade of white when she saw me – after all she was Royal and Evil and most importantly Smart – and so she knew that Naomi + Sad (but innocent expression on face) +Shoe Box (big enough to fit a kitty or puppy) = BAD BAD news.

Nemo did a marvelous job of winning her over with a tired mew and begging eyes. TRE allowed us in but gloomily predicted that the kitten had not a chance for survival - and that I would have Nothing to gain or offer to the kitten by bringing her in. Since I also had Nothing to loose by trying to save the kitten, I named the her Nemo – Latin for Nothing – brought her to my room and put her on a 4 hourly feeding schedule.

Nope, I didn’t loose her that day. Within three days she was up and about, chasing my skirts and playing with my shoes. It was 2 months later that I lost her – but that is another story, reserved for another day…