Panther, The black beauty and the rag-tag cat army, Ethiopian Journey, Blog Post No – 64

Panther our pet cat with Pranav and looking on is Anasuya Devi Aunty, Padma's Mother. Notice the huge sunflower plants and the lawn that was very tough to grow. The pathway was born out of tough physical labour

Surprisingly Bahirdar had very few stray dogs. The number of stray dogs could easily be counted on fingers. Coming from a country (India) where stray dogs are dime a dozen, that was a huge let off. Dogs make life interesting. Ethiopians were scared of rabies and stray dogs were mercilessly hunted and eradicated.  

Cats were tolerated and loved. Even though there is a possibility that rabies could easily be transmitted by cats, they were on display in Bahirdar. They were mostly strays and would roam from one house to the other. These ferals would operate in a group with roles, positions and a well-defined pecking order.

The rag tag army relaxing after a nice meal

The rag tag army of cats discovered that there were new firangs (foreigners) in the town. They came down in a clowder and discovered that the pink house had promise! The occupants were animal tolerant, rather pet loving; there were kids around and where there are kids, it meant food. Also the cats were not teased nor stoned.

The cat army scooped in, fought over the left over food and moved on. They simply loved our Pongal and it was the elixir of life that they could not afford to miss! They would patiently wait in the portico and would eat their breakfast with gusto.

Once the breakfast was done and dusted, they moved on. But some stayed back. One of them was an orange and black tabby, Tiger. Tiger was quite affectionate but would spit and draw her claws, if we tried to lift her up. The children amused themselves by watching the cats from a distance.

Black is only in my name, Panther who loved posing! 

Then one day, walked in, a black beauty. Black beauty was a sight to behold. Jet black, she would have caused many an Indian to stop their journey just by crossing their path. But in Ethiopia, black cats were precious. They were the harbingers of good luck. Black cats were a premium and were the pick of the litter. Some were even sold and bought at astronomical prices!

Panther, she was christened. Panther was the gentlest of the cats that we came across. She was incredibly intelligent and very tame. She would come up and rub herself against our legs and give a small mew. That was her signal, “pick me up”. Once picked up she would nestle against our body and drop off to sleep. She loved us, but adored Sahithi. She became Sahithi’s most loved companion. She did not mind Pranav’s rough and ready games. If the game became rougher, she would jump off and run away. She was our pet but was free to come and go as she pleased.

Panther was worth her weight in gold. She was a great mouser. She was a killing machine par excellence. She would mercilessly hunt down the rats and give them the kiss of death - break their necks with a swift bite.

Sometimes the kitten in her would come to the fore. She would hunt her prey and knock the rat off its senses. Then she would lay next to the unconscious rat and wait. We could feel her excitement. Her tail would be swirling all the time. She was pregnant with anticipation. Once the stunned rat regained consciousness, the cat and mouse game was on!

Panther would literally play with the mouse. Allow it to gain some distance and then pounce on the poor rat. She would let the rat think that escape was imminent and pounce again. It was the game of death! The rat would make desperate screeching noises!

Not able to see the torture being inflicted, I would sometimes take out the poor rat into the garden. Panther would give a glare that said it all. “Shucks man, Come on! It was a game. Don’t be a spoil sport. Just when the game was getting more exciting!”. She would try to continue the game in the garden but allowed the rat to escape! It was puzzling to see her, toy with her food!

Panther the heroine with her side kick, ME!

Panther gained in confidence and started to look at us, as her family. She thought it was her duty to bring us gifts! Her gifts were messy and grisly! Every morning, the minute we opened the front door, the grisly gifts were on display. A stack of dead rats, neatly arranged!

Sitting next to the gruesome offering, would be Panther, expecting a pat on the back and a bowl of fresh milk! She could never understand as to why Padma always scooped her gifts and dumped them outside! “Never mind, you crazy Indians” she must have muttered to herself “I can always get you more”.

The cycle continued and the next day morning it was business as usual. Panther ensured that we were rat free. Panther was a bird killer too! She would patiently wait in the bushes and pounce on the unsuspecting birds.

Watching her hunt, I reminded myself “that is why the cat is called the aunt of the tiger”. Panther stalking and killing was like watching a tiger hunt! Only difference was watching a tiger kill, was like seeing a movie in Imax (the best movie projection theatre in Hyderabad) and watching Panther kill was like watching the same movie in a five-inch mobile phone. It was the same, except that the effect was minimized!

Sahithi’s early morning activities were organized. She would get up and if I didn’t have a morning session at the university, would accompany me in my morning walk in our garden. And tagging along us would be Panther. She was bored but she did it for her mistress.  

Sahithi was a silent operator. She would closely inspect the plants. She was our inspector-in-chief. Nothing missed her hawk eyes. She would talk to them briefly, enquiring about their health and if they had been watered. Sometimes she would even sing to the flowering plants. Initially all this was met with a healthy dose of skepticism.

But she proved us wrong. Our plants grew rapidly, blossomed and flowered profusely. Our main rose plant at one time had more than 100 roses! It was a sight to behold. It looked as if the rose plant was decked with roses and it had very little leaves!

During her inspection Sahithi would grunt suddenly, turn towards me and point an accusing finger and caustically say “NANNA”. Coming into the army’s attention stand, I would humbly follow her stare. What has annoyed my little inspector-in-chief? It could be dry leaves or withered flowers. She would not budge unless the pruning was done, immediately. It was quite amusing to follow her as she performed her duty, religiously and meticulously.