Last week, a pall of gloom descended on my house following my father’s demise. I wasn’t very happy following the strict Hindu rituals for 13 days. But we had a steady stream of visitors, and I was told to have faith in the age-old beliefs and I just followed the rituals. Since I was spending all my time at home and the mood was solemn, I did unusual things such as spending time quietly looking out. Right outside my window, I saw four little kittens with their mother. I don’t know for how long they had made this perch their base, but they must have been there for three to four weeks.
We knew the stray cat. She used towait outside our spilt air-conditioner and purr, and we would give her food every morning and evening. She would quietly slip away after she ate or sometimes even take a nap there. She had disappeared for a few weeks, but then we spotted her with her kittens.
There is nothing more spectacular than watching four cuddly kittens clawing each other, as if they were proclaiming their independence in their new-found home. And when the sliding window opened, they gave an innocent look, as if they were looking at another species and were apologising for ruining the potted plants kept there. Sometimes their mother hissed and growled as she was very possessive about her territory and kids. I was waiting for the mother cat to leave so that I’d get a chance to touch the kittens. But believe me, I never got a chance, at least during the day, and I have no clue if she left to fetch food at night.
What I learnt from the cat is not only perseverance but also faith that we’d not harm her babies when she went to forage. She had faith that she could leave her young ones below our window.
Moreover, she must have noticed that while we watered the plants kept there, we poured water gently. And once we saw the kittens, we were even more careful. It was belief that made her sit under the window through the day, in the blistering heat. Watching her, I learnt that faith is what one needs to succeed. Faith is conviction, in the absence of supporting facts. With faith, we can attain levels of success that the fainthearted cannot reach.
After a few days of watching the cat, I found myself less reluctant to go through the rituals connected with my father’s death. After all, that too was all about faith.
—N Raghuraman is an editor with DNA.
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