Little Browny

I was never one for pets, probably, the practicalities of bringing up a pet weighed more heavily than emotions. Also, the nomadic lifestyle we led was, I thought least conducive to bringing up a pet.

But as luck would have it, we didn’t have to adopt a pet, we got adopted. It was not what we had bargained for, but that is how love enters one’s life isn’t it, when one least expects it!

I can’t really recollect the day that our little kitten came into our life, it is a bit hazy. All I remember, is that one fine day, I had this little brown kitten looking with the most doleful eyes at me. How it got into my lap and how for days afterwards, she would jump up on my lap as I was reading the newspapers, is not so clear to me. But, I remember, how my routine subtly changed at first, to accommodate her in my lap and how it would cuddle and look for maternal comfort with me.

Slowly but surely, she made her way into my heart, so much so that slowly my routine revolved a lot around her needs and wants. From a clinging kitten, she turned to an independent rebel. Almost daily, I would hear from my neighbours about all kinds of mischievous and dangerous things she was up to. Every day was different and it was like reliving my daughter’s childhood, to be on tenterhooks, to see if my little Browny (the unimaginative name we had given her!) was doing fine. She kept me on my toes, whether it was on the day I had to drag her away from a deadly snake, or the day she was unwell. With no prior experience of pets I would worry about the smallest things that didn’t seem normal to me.

An only child, my daughter felt the first stirrings of sibling rivalry, as she had a competitor for my attention now. Nevertheless she took upon herself the responsibility of chiding Browny for all her misdemeanors. I never thought I would have to cope with sibling rivalry of this kind! If there were no complaints from outside, there was enough bickering at home between Browny and my daughter to keep me occupied.

Browny tentatively took her first step into adulthood, by pursuing the most dominant tom-cat around, to be her mate. As I watched hopelessly as only a mother can, she pursued and the tom-cat had to succumb to her charms!!

As time passed Browny showed signs of a pregnancy which made me very anxious for her. I was not at all confident of how this playful and rebellious little cat of mine, with a strongly independent streak could take on the responsibilities of a mother. Night after night I would worry where she would litter and how she would manage. As the D-day approached, I was as nervous as she probably was because I could see the anxiousness and fear in her eyes. The day dawned when she gave birth to two tiny, wriggly little ones, but unfortunately, one was born dead. All my efforts to get Browny to nurse the surviving other one were in vain and we watched hopelessly as the second little kitten died too. Her stunned expression at seeing the little one, no longer wriggling and her overwhelming sadness at having lost her young one at birth drove both of us into a deep despair. She clung to me for comfort and all I could do was hold and comfort her as she wiped herself clean after the trauma of giving birth.

The Hands of Nature work in mysterious ways and soon Browny found a kitten that had been abandoned by her mother. Before long, she was smothering the little one with love and affection as only a new mother can! The young one, now christened Donna, by my daughter, because of her amazing skill at handling the ball with her legs, was the centre of Browny’s affection.

I see her now all matured into a fiercely protective mother who can very well look after her young one. As I lay back rest assured for her, I feel the pride of being a mother all over again!!