The Incredible Cat -a-Thon

 

It had been months of speculation after which we settled on adopting a cat .. and like a Godsend .. we met a wonderful lady called Sharfaa with all the motherly advice for us on raising a cat in our house .. Noodle being a home raised cat and being pretty well litter trained … we felt reassured in her guidance ..

It had been 2 days with Noodle in the house and we finally felt she was getting comfortable and settling down in the new space when by some silly folly .. the main door remained open … and she pranced outside .. no one even noticing when she strayed out.. so light and noiseless is her movement ,.. well that’s a cat for u …

Ajeet and I were both at our respective hospitals when this happened .. I got a frantic call from my mother that they had been searching for Noodle for a long time .. and couldn’t find her ,.. I knew how extensively they must have searched before calling knowing them and I could hear the sorrow and panic in her voice ..

I tried to reassure her and sound positive .. that she would not stray far and would make her way back .. but I could feel my voice quivering and tears start to form behind my eyes .. I couldn’t let myself cry in OPD and so I held back n numbed myself further for the rest of the OPD time .. but I could feel my heart dropping down to my stomach .. we had just lost her brother Nikke 2 days ago by an unfortunate series of events .. and thoughts like bad omen were further clouding my thoughts ..

Got a forlorn msg from Ajeet sounding agitated and depressed .. “ What a mess ! Wev lost her “. I knew how attached he had become in these 2 days …  but I told him “ No wel find her “ though I dint feel as confident as I sounded  

With great apprehension I called Sharfaa and told her we couldn’t find Noodle and I felt so guilty .. shed just lost one of her babies 2 days ago and now we had lost Noodle out of recklessness … but she was great .. she promised to come there soon n hopefully hearing her voice Noodle would be compelled to come out of hiding wherever she was .. she did .. my parents were continuing their back breaking search until we returned and Sharfaa joined In for a good 3 hours .. she searched the basement and each floor and then the gol chakkar and also interviewed everyone in the bulding and picked up quite a few feelers from different people saying they saw her on several floors and even at the gold chakkar outside the building complex ..

She left disappointed tired . but did tell me to place the litter box and food down near the guard as cats have a keen sense of smell and direction and tend to come back searching .. 

as soon as I came back it was my turn to ransack the floors n abasement and the nearby societies and construction sites and  informing each f the guards and also siting n watching CCTV footage of the road .. but to no avail ..

Once Aekansh came back Mumma was so scared of breaking the news to him .. he went straight to terrace and called out "Noodle .. kahaan ho !" with enthusiasm  .. n I gave hima few moments to realize she wasnt there ..then  took him in my lap n looked him straight in the eye n told him shes run out n we were looking for her .. his face crumpled up a bit for a moment but then he gathered himself n said “ to wo wapas to aajeyegi na “ .. I was so relieved he dint cry cuz hed already been crying for Nikke the past 2 days .. reassured him somehow .. 

Aekansh n I- went down n surveyed the basement again .. calling out to her repeatedly .. no avail

By now wed sent out her pic and msg on our societys group and everyone was on lookout for the missing cat .. got a false alarm several times for another black cat ..and wed come back dejected ..

Then Sharfaa msgd that shed been talking to a cat psychic and shed received this msg from her

“Noodle is a very intelligent and curious cat.. she went out to explore but she is scared too..

She met a white orange colour cat and interacted with the cat..

The neighborhood seems fine and friendly.. but there are two dogs she is scared of dogs..

She is not on ground.. somewhere above..

She knows how to protect herself..

She need time to adjust.. she is scared and uncomfortable in the new house and trust built up nehi hua hai...

But she is very nearby...

She showed me the following:

There are independent houses around.. she showed me a terrace and she is sitting atop a house..

And there is another cat with her...

There is a lane..

And cars parked.. she showed me jamun colour car.. and two cars which are covered with silver plastic sheet...

She showed me a house with lemon yellow colour walls.. and a house construction going on with sand and stone chips around..

She showed me an open field too which is nearby her eyes...

The place have houses and open spaces at the same time.

There is a temple nearby..

And a quality walls ice cream board...

I saw a house with no 65 written on a wall..

Are there cows around in the road? Do check...

She went out of the house and took a right..

Backside there was a wall.. she took her time and left..

Not in a hurry...

She showed me small plants in tubs.. 

She showed me a board its written ashram..

And a house with name Gokul.

Paas mein ek park hai chota hai...

I am conveying her to come back..she is around 300 mtrs away not far.. and not running etc.. sitting at one place.. she showed me drinking water from a pot.. didnt eat anything....”

And the first thing Ajeet said after hearing this was “ Babu usne kuchh khayaa bhi nahi hai .. “ .. not that he dint believe in cat psychics .. neither did I correct him .. suddenly we wanted to believe every word written in that msg .. all our logic had flown out of the window ..

We were like so desparate we became believers and put on our search shoes and this time three of us went down .. now we donned our detective camps and set afoot in whichever direction we felt all the clues would come together .. hehe .. entering many houses at random terraces calling out her name ..expecting an orange tabby to be giving her company .. hehe .. then searching for lemon coloured walls and a “ jamun coloured car …and the name gokul and house 65 .. and sometimes the park would be missing ..and the temple … it was like a treasure hunt .. and aekansh was fixated on the “ jamun coloured car"..lol .. .. at one point when we had entered four houses and rummaged the terrace .. then found a gokuldham society … and found zilch … we started to feel a little ridiculous and looked at each other with a sheepish smile .. by this time aekansh was like “ mumma pair dukh rahe hain … kal search karein kya” …lol .. wed wandered a few km from our house and we went back yet again empty handed .. also feeling quite foolish .. we were exhausted physically n mentally by then

 We were just sitting morose at the table when mumma said Ill make something nice to eat  for aekansh – she said Im making noodles and Instinctively I looked at her and she just looked so sorry n said “ no no ill make pasta instead” .. lol

By then this was also seeming like such a comedy of errors I was actually amused

At 10 pm when wed kind of given all hope we got a call from Reena aunty saying shed seen a cat under her car .. we practically sprinted down the stairs and sure enough there she was crouching under the car .. tiny miny as she was .. unfortunately other kids n the guards came in as well and the cacophony got her completely alarmed and she raised herself into the bonnet of the car so she wasn’t visible at all .. we asked uncle to get the keys open the engine .. n we were standing surrounding the car .. but as soon as it was opened she sprang out and ran like a cheetah .. and we followed on her heels . and in the blink of the eye she disappeared like a bolt of lightening .. Gosh there were a million places she could hide .. again we beseeched sharfaa to come and they immediately .. called out to her all over the parking lot .. and now we realized she mustv been here the whole time but had chosen not to emerge even at sharfaas voice .. she was seriously petrified ..

Damn.. we were miserable wen we came back .. she was so close yet we lost her ..

Slept immediately we were so tired .. but at 12 am .. apparently she strayed out from her hiding place and Ajeet got a call from the guards .. he went down alone n for the next two hours he had a quiet adventure ... did a silent dodging this time being aware he shdnt startle her using every tactic from feeding her treats from a distance to crawling slowly toward her so she wouldn’t rush away .. yet she did … n hed lose her trail yet again n then hv to start all over again .. so he was lying prostrated on the ground alongside her .. showing her bird videos on his phone to keep her engaged .. at one point she again raised herself into the bonnet of a  car .. this time Ajeet banged on the bonnet until she dropped down … n then he swooped down n apparently caught hold of her tail n then caught hold of her .. n she wasn’t in mood to struggle either .. I guess shed sized him up by then n dint mind being in his arms … he then brought her up lovingly .. and came back to bed woke me up lightly and told me “ she has come back “ and I was just grinning in my sleep and thanking him profusely .. id never felt as much gratitude and admiration for him as I felt at that moment .. haha

So that was a memorable chase .. something we wont forget in a hurry .. and weren’t we glad we had her back with us !