Chuttan - Our Cat

He came like a ray of sunshine,
And stayed like a beautiful and rare rainbow
Brightening up an otherwise cloudy period in my life.
To the rest of my family too,
He soon became an indispensible part of their lives.
To anyone else, he was just a cat,
But to us, he was a beloved companion, playmate and ultimately - family.

I vividly remember the first time that I laid eyes on him…
It was a late autumn afternoon and I sat outside my house
Enjoying the warm sunshine and balmy breeze.
In reality, I was supposed to be busy preparing
For the never ending series of tests that are the part and parcel
Of the life of an eleventh standard science student.

As I sat with an open Biology textbook on my lap,
Trying hard not to doze off,
I heard the shouts and laughter of children a little way off.
The sounds and shouts kept getting nearer,
And I soon guessed that they were in pursuit of something.
Thinking that it must be a dog, I was turning back to my book
When I heard a distinct ‘mew’.
I strained my ears and caught the words "billli ka baccha’'
Uttered by one of the urchins.
I gathered that the kitten was in a ditch
And that the kids were trying to get it to come out
By throwing stones at it and inserting small twigs into the ditch.
Feeling excited, and angry at the same time
At their cruelty, I got up meaning to drive the kids away.
But before I had a taken a few paces, the sounds stopped,
And I realized that the kids, grown weary of their pursuit
And believing it to be fruitless, had scampered off.

I listened for the cat and was turning back
Thinking that it must have managed to get away,
When I heard that ‘mew’ again!
Excitement surged through my veins again
And feeling lighthearted I went indoors to get some milk.
I was sure that the little thing would be starving,
And soon had placed a little bowl of milk below my cot.
The kitten was still in the ditch
And I decided to wait rather than go near it and possibly frighten it more.
The wait proved worthwhile for soon he came running
Led on by the smell of milk no doubt.

I could see him from where I sat on my cot,
And I made out a small yellow-and-white, fuzzy little thing.
He had soon cleaned up the bowl
And sat back looking at me with wide brown eyes.
Thinking he might still be hungry, I got him some more milk.
He sat where he was warily watching me, and when I had moved away,
Went and lapped up the milk noisily.

He stayed with me all day long
Trailing me wherever I went,
His tail flicking a little,
And his eyes watching my every movement.
Later, my mother, sister and I got a bit of string
And he played with it, merry as a bell.

When night came, my anxiety grew.
As dusk had begun to set in
I had started wondering
What we were going to do with him.
But strangely enough,
Mother did not protest
When my sister and I
Asked if we could take him in for the night.
So, there he was - placed in a small basket of sorts
Happily snuggled in,
Our little furry guest,
Sleeping in our guest bedroom!

We named him 'Chuttan'
(Derived from 'Chute' )
Meaning a 'small mark',
Because he had a small white 'tilak'
Right in the center of his forehead.

Chuttan made our home a bright
And happy place to be.
Lively and mischievous,
He'd purr and rub against our knees
To tell us to play with him.
He was a master rat catcher too
And to everyone's surprise,
Even kept watch inside the kitchen
Where all the food was there.
But never did he try to sneak a bite
When no one was looking.

He'd know exactly when his favorite food - milk
Was going to be given to him.
His tail would begin swishing to and fro,
And he'd trail us excitedly to the fridge.
He'd try to butt in, trying to look inside,
And watch the milk being taken out.
But he never lunged at the milk vessel,
Rather, he'd wait excitedly
Till the milk was served to him.

On afternoons, when I came back from school
Impatient to see him,
He'd run to me
As soon as he heard me
Call out his name.
I'd pull up a chair and sit,
And he'd jump up onto my lap.
There we'd sit enjoying the winter sunshine,
Till we heard mother call out
To come in for lunch.

Six months quickly flew by
And he grew up into a handsome young fellow.
In six carefree months of undiluted joy,
He taught us about love and happiness,
And valuing the small things in life.
As he spread good cheer and warmth
Though his unconditional love
We got more than we imagined
Or could ever dream of.

Chuttan's time on earth was unexpectedly cut short
When he was hit by a vehicle one fateful day.
I had come back from school as usual,
And had stood calling out to him
But he never appeared.
I searched for him outside the house
And for days afterwards sat morose
Thinking that he might have run off.
It came as a shock one day
When a neighbor spoke about a cat
Lying in the bushes next to the road, not far away
With a sinking heart my sister and I
Went near the bushes and saw him.
I did not go any further
When I knew it was him.
Turning away, with tears washing down my face,
I ran home with my sister close behind.

We stayed glum all week long
His loss was painful for us both
Even mother felt sad
All of us had got quite attached
To the little fur ball
Who'd grown up before our eyes

With time, we got over his loss
But his memories still linger in our hearts.
We fondly remember his mischief and play
And how he became an inseparable part of our home
But most of all, I remember him
As a beloved friend who came to me
During one of the most loneliest phases of my life
Someone, who painted with unconditional love
An otherwise grey period of my life
With all the brightest hues of the rainbow!