Weighing My Love for Cats —
A Story of Our Odd-Colored Eyes White Cat
“Cats choose us; we don’t own them” — Kristin Cast
This love popped up at noon when we came back home after school and we watched a small kitten in my father’s hand as a surprise for me and my siblings. We just threw our bags on the nearby couch and started holding that kitten one by one. Our excitement banged when we saw each iris had a different color; one was yellow and the other blue.
I was never the kind of child who likes toys as gifts though my papa was used to bringing them to me. I always loved to have pets, colors, sketchbooks, play dough and sports equipment as gifts. I had a lot of pricey toys and dolls and I know that I pushed to the limit to entertain myself with them but in vain. So if I say that kitten was the best gift I had ever since then it wouldn’t be wrong.
“What greater gift than the love of a cat.” — Charles Dickens
We all were very excited to see her feed, sleep and have fun with us. We were just behind her, talking with her, asking her hey Cato! Do you want something to eat, etc.? We offered her food along with us on the dining table and made her sleep with us in the bed. Her way of shifting places at midnight to make all the kids happy was surprising to us.
The very next morning when my mother came to our room to wake us up for school, Sundri started licking our faces. I remember how rapidly I woke up and hugged her, smooched her for a long time and only I know how hard it was for me to attend the class that day. Well, I didn’t want to miss school because I was dying to tell my fellow students about my new cutest pet.
With time our love for that kitty grew larger and we felt that she was depicting the same affection back. Now we all longed to give her a good name to call other than that typical “Cato”. We kids started to suggest names and we noticed that our mum, dad and granny were laughing at all 4 kids as if they might be funny titles. Well, the game was soon over when my granny gave her the name “Sundri Mundri”, the name of my dad’s first pet in his boyhood.
As we were delighted to call her by this name we were inquisitive too about the meaning of this title. Then my grandma told us that “Sundri means Gorgeous” and “Mundri means Precious” so, she is “Gorgeous and Precious” from now. And now we had another exhilarating story to tell our classmates.
The next day after school, a few of my and my younger brother’s classmates planned to visit our home just to confirm if we had an odd-colored eyes white cat. Once they confirmed, we had a chance to break new stories every day. Hey, do you know what our Sundri Mundri did yesterday? She did this and that…I mean there were so many things to be told.
Sundri grew up with time and then unexpectedly she got fat and was quite sluggish. Moreover Sundri had been given extra care from my mama too. More milk was being added to Sundri’s bowl, more feed was being given to her. It was clear that there is something dubious with Sundri because my mom warned us not to compel Sundri to play with you when one day we tried to do this. Not only did she advise her but scolded us as well on doing so. Now we were nosier about it, to which my mother told us that Sundri isn’t feeling well and needs good care and rest.
Who knows another surprise for us is just about to come up. Well, a day arrived when my mother invited us to join her in the basement of our house. She amazed us by showing five of the small newly born kittens. We were excited to hold them in our hands but Sundri was not ready to allow anyone to touch her kittens.
I just know that Papa and I were only curious about if any of her kittens have odd-color eyes. After a few days, when she allowed us to see her kittens we came to know that no one has the same color eyes as their mother cat. Now we lost interest in them and kept loving our Sundri with the same vigor.
In the summer, one of my father’s aunts visited us along with her son who was not fond of pets. They were quite annoyed by Sundri and somehow my dad’s cousin decided to leave her far away not only from the house but this city. One day when my dad dropped us off at school and went out of the city for some business hassle, his cousin decided to carry out his mission. When he saw my mother was busy in the kitchen he took Sundri outside. He gave her to a truck driver and instructed him to leave her wherever he was supposed to go. When we came back from school, as per the routine we started calling Sundri expecting the same riposte. When Sundri didn’t welcome us for a long time, we started finding her at every possible place she could hide or sleep. Who knew that it wouldn’t be possible now? We were convinced that our uncle was the one who did that.
“There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.” — Tay Hohoff
Everyone was sad but somehow managed by keeping themselves busy with routine. However, it was difficult in my case. I was stuck crying for many days whenever I sensed that I would never see Sundri again. Then my dad came to me and took me into his lap. He hugged me and told me that if you love someone and he/she loves you back then no one can restrain your way of coming together. And you will see Sundri will come back to you. I was wondering if it would be that much easier but somehow I was confident about my true love for Sundri. Currently, I was the only one who was hoping for Sundri back to her home.
After a few months, our phone bell rang. My mum picked up the phone. She was my dad’s cousin who lived in the same city just a few miles away. She asked my mum if Sundri came back to the house. My mother replied No, how could she be back? She said okay then I have good news for you that Sundri is back, I have seen her sitting on my wall just heretofore. My mother was both stunned and excited at the same time to announce that Sundri was back. She asked her again if she was sure that she had seen Sundri there.
As she confirmed, my mother announced blissfully, hey listen! Our Sundri is back. We all gathered near our mum within a few moments having tears in our eyes and so many questions. My mother who was encircled by us was confused about whose query needed to be considered first. Hence my mother started telling us what her sister-in-law told her about Sundri.
“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.” — Hippolyte Taine
Now it was time to get another lure shortly. My brother decided to go to see her outdoors. As he unlocked the main gate, he said, “oh my God”. We were there when we heard that from him. He was standing inside the gateways and Sundri was sitting in front of the gate. She merely did Meow to find all of us in front of her and we started crying. Because only we can understand the importance of that meowing of Sundri. My brother leaned towards her, took her in his lap and turned back. We reached out to him and started hugging and kissing Sundri.
Everyone was sobbing and asking her,
Hey Sundri! Hey love! Where were you?
Did you eat something?
Why are you looking so weak?
Don’t you know we were missing you badly and waiting for you?
Sundri was constantly replying to meows against every single question asked by us and her every meow was more heartbreaking.
“A meow massages the heart.” — Stuart McMillan
She seemed a little pale but we were delighted to see that she was alive and reached home safely. Now whenever Mama sees her walk outside, she says Sundri come back, you don’t need to go outside and unexpectedly Sundri does follow the directions. Years passed fast and during this, Sundri became a mother twice. She gave birth to 11 but never to a single identical kitten. No one was a pure white, odd-colored pussycat. By then we just lost the expectancy of getting another Sundri. And that’s how we figured out how rare and precious our Sundri was and how beautifully her name described her.
One fine evening my younger brother, sister and I were getting ready to get the tuition. Mama was heading towards the kitchen to make dinner and called Sundri. We all noticed that Sundri was walking slowly and was lethargic. Soon after that Sundri spat up and died within a few minutes when we were just making her way to the hospital. We all were crying because we were fully convinced that there was nothing in our hands and we couldn’t get our Sundri Mundri back. My youngest sister who was hardly 3 to 4 years old was also crying with us without having wisdom about the death. When my brother was going to lay Sundri to rest, she asked my mother, Mama where is she going? “In Heaven”, she simply responded. The answer made us cry out loud.
Papa was somewhere outside. He decided to catch up with us soon after receiving my mother’s call. He consoled us by saying that he would bring another cat for us, however we were not ready to get another one just because we were broken down to see Sundri die in front of us just a moment before. Mama cooked a meal with a heavy heart but nobody was ready to swallow a single bite including our parents. Now my dad had another job to feed us. Somehow he did it successfully. Our Sundri Mundri is no more but she exists in our hearts and our tales and can never be withered.
“Honor your grief and the pain you feel when you lose a beloved pet. It is the first step toward healing.” — Karen A Anderson
