A Catty Tale

What does most people think when they see a cat? Oh! So sweet ball of fur! How cute! And so on.

I also have similar sentiments. But I nurture another one too. Despite being beautiful creatures, I feel cats have some hidden agenda. Their meowing and purring say something and their eyes reflect something else. They are somehow not innocent like dogs. I’m specifically saying this about the grown – up ones. The kittens are above suspicion. My sincere apologies to cat lovers. You see I’m just being honest about my opinion.

Our locality is crowded with stray cats. So every household keeps vigilance over the movement of cats. Otherwise one is bound to lose pieces of fish, bowl of milk and the worst …the nooks of cupboards or sofa may be drenched due to their nature’s call.

I maintain a ‘you do not bother me and I would not bother you type’ relation with cats’. Few weeks back, I noticed a new cat strolling in our garden. What struck me was the color of the cat. It was mostly black in combination with little white and had strikingly sharp green eyes. I’m not much superstitious but it was somewhat eerie. Then I noticed his attitude. He will fully dominate the other younger cats, sometimes by fighting with them or worst by clenching them around the neck.

This incident happened few days back. It was 7 a.m. I was in a good mood enjoying my cup of tea. Then I heard two cats fighting. What fuming voices! I found them fighting standing on our boundary wall. Among the two, one was the black one. Both of them were finding difficulty in maintaining balance but they still kept on combating. It was a do or die situation. I lost patience. Their irate voices were curbing the tranquility of the morning. I came back with half a glass of water and threw on their direction. They stopped momentarily only to start again with full verve. I again repeated the process. This time I was successful. One ran away. But the black one stayed. His ego was badly hurt. I could make out from his stare. He did not run away. Instead he remained seated over there. It was weird that he stayed back.

I came back in my room. After few mins I heard a movement of utensils in the kitchen. I thought it was our maid. Then there was a swift dragging noise. Without thinking much I rushed to the kitchen. To my shock, I found my lunch box missing. I knew a cat must have done this. It had got leftovers from the previous day so it fetched attraction from cats. But it was like simple mathematics for me. It never happened before. It was revenge by Mr. Angry Cat! Though I did not see him doing this but no other cat will ever do this kind of daring act! I gave up my hope of getting my lunch box back. Later it was discovered by my father lying near a water passage in our garden. Mr. Angry Cat’s claws were not made to open tiffin box. So it lied there unharmed.

Whether it was Mr. Black cat or some other cat, I must say this was one of the sweetest settlement of scores did by someone. May be it was just a feline behavior. But the sequence of events has definitely added twist to the whole episode of my interaction with my clawed neighbour.  It was an incident which I will fondly remember..

Bascule Bridge at Khidderpore dock: the other side of the story

Engineers definitely have better theory to explain the functioning of a Bascule bridge so I will just try to explain what it is like in few words. A Bascule bridge over a canal or river has a dual role – it acts as a bridge and as a road. Most of the time it allows the road traffic to cross and when water vessels need to pass, this bridge moves vertically allowing smooth passage for the giant or mini vessels.

The bascule bridge across an inlet of River Hooghly at Khidderpore port is a notable landmark. Despite the semi-rustic look of that area no one can deny the enthralling beauty of this particular place. A zephyr will always sweep across the face while crossing the bridge.
It is a wonder for people who come to areas near Garden Reach once in a while. But it is a dreaded wonder for those who need to cross this bridge everyday to reach their school, college, workplace etc. It does not have any consideration for the puny human beings. It can rise at any time mostly at the rush hours forcing the traffic to come at halt. Sometimes it behaves like an imp who can read the human mind & accordingly play its cards. Often I’ve seen, when I’m in utmost hurry, the bridge goes up! It rises like Triton among the minnows and obviously to take the reins for the next half an hour or more. But there is another underlying horror. History has records when this bridge did not resume its horizontal position due to mechanical disturbance. And then it’s another story.

If there was a device to measure mass fluctuation in emotions, one could have seen the ups and downs of frustration quotient, slang quotient, human bonding quotient – all surfacing when this giant wakes from sleep. Buses, trucks, jumbo containers, lorries, cars, autos, bikes, cycles all stand on both the sides of the bridge following a zigzag pattern. If a photograph is taken from helicopter, they will definitely look like randomly disposed off garbage cans of various sizes. The moment the red light blinks (indicating the rising time of the bridge), all the transports try to speed up to reach the nearest spot at the juncture of the bridge so that they can avoid the elbowing of other vehicles as soon as the light turns green. Series of slangs are bestowed upon the bridge, the vessels and the port mostly by drivers and commuters. Most of the passengers will allow their head to peek out of the rickety windows of the buses to catch a quick glance of the episode. Street hawkers gather around with their treat mostly consisting of diced coconut & lozenges.
Strangers start communicating in such way as if they have known each other for long. When one says,” hai bhagoban”, the person sitting or standing beside will definitely add,” issko abhi uthna tha..” A mother will utter in loud voice to her son sitting at a distant seat,” Beta! Dekho bridge uth raha hai..” And the son who has already seen it will again peep out of the window to please his ma.
Once a passenger excitedly shouted,” bridge doob raha hai!”..(Meaning the bridge is resuming its horizontal position). Everyone in the bus started laughing and another humorously added, “aare bhai, bridge doob gaya toh edhar ka passenger edhar aur udhar ka passenger udhar hi rahe jayenge..”

The incessant babbling starts fading as soon as the vehicles roar in high spirits. People sigh in relief that it is end for today. What about tomorrow? As a school going kid, due to my sympathetic Aunties, I could avoid punishment for reaching late to school…but the finger punching machines put up in offices are not considerate enough. Everyday when I head towards the port area, I try to sense the impending terror….It is a routine now.

The two photos were taken on my mobile.