Saviour

Summer, 1994

"Squawk squawk"

"Mew mew"

"Squaaaaaaaaaawk"

I rushed outside to our garden to spot a crow trying to attack a white furry little ball. 

"AAAH! SHOO! SHOO! SHOOOOOO!"

The crow flew away immediately and it was just me and the furry little ball in the garden.

It was summer of 1995. I was only 5 years old. 

As a child I was always amazed at how the years aged with me, and how the last digit of the year was always my age. Well, until my birthday came along of course. Anyway, I am talking about the time when I was in Howrah, near Kolkata in India, my hometown. This incident is from the time when I used to live with my grandmother- the great story-teller, my parents and Pipi. This is a story of me and Pipi with my mum in a side-role ha ha. Now you would ask me who Pipi is, so let me introduce her!

Pipi brought me up. You can say she was my nanny. Since I was 7 days old (don’t ask me how I remember this coz I don’t. I asked my mum.), she was like my second mother. She stayed by my side and looked after me when my mum went to college, for her PhD and after, when she started working. She was my friend, my companion, my best-friend. Though I did misbehave quite a couple of times. Oh, and I don’t know how I came up with that name for her. Children can be so innovative!
Back to 1995. I remember I was home, playing inside the house when I heard the crow squawking outside. And obviously, being a curious little kid I was, I had to run outside and see what was happening.

As I grew closer to the furry white ball, I noticed that it was a white little kitten. It’s eyes were hardly open and it was so tiny that I thought it could easily fit into my tiny hands.

“It is hurt.”

I saw Pipi standing behind me. She looked towards me and we immediately knew what we had to do. She took the little thing in her hands and we both headed towards the wooden stairs which led to our terrace. Now, you should know that the wooden stairs was a no-no for me at that age since it was pretty dangerous. But you must have guessed by now that neither mum nor dad was home. So, Operation: Mischief! :D
The stairs led to a little room which opened into the terrace. It is the room which was to be the new home for our little kitten! And of course, it was to be a secret as my mum pretty much hated cats.
Together we fetched some old sheets and blankets from the cupboard, stuffed them into a corner and settled the kitten there. After the little thing was well-fed (some milk was sneaked into the room) and well-cuddled, we left the little thing to play on its own and we sneaked downstairs.
You can just about imagine the 1000 Volts shock she felt when she opened the door to that room, later that evening (well we forgot the fact that mum entered the terrace every evening to get the clothes she put up to dry on the terrace).

“THERE IS A CAT HERE!”

Now of course the little kitten wasn’t capable of climbing the stairs (where each step was nearly thrice its height) AND entering the room AND getting its own blankets. And she didn’t have to use her little grey cells (like Agatha Christie’s Poirot) to know who was responsible. Thus began the telling-off session. We both couldn't do anything but stare meekly at the ground. I only managed to hear snippets of what mum was saying, which included something about "Germs... diseases...etc". At the end it, Pipi was ordered to take the kitten out and leave it into the nearby forest area.
And that was the end of it. The tiny little friend I had bonded with in a few hours would be gone, probably never to be seen again. 

Next morning I remember playing in the garden. Guess what I saw? A huge white cat sneaking in through the gate into our garden. Following her was my tiny little furry friend! They walked past me and Pipi who was spellbound (I of course was jumping up and down!) and headed straight for the wooden stairs. Up the stairs and into the room(which always remained open so it wasn't too much of a hassle for them to settle into the cosy corner).

I guess the little kitten found its mother after all. :) 

Let me write what happened next. They stayed for a couple of days, acting as though it had been their house all along! Mum didn't bother to send it away another time ha ha.