The Cat

[Mary Storm]

Dear Gopal,
Sorry, you are right, I should not generalize about the pet allegiances
of 950 million people! I should have written with the caveat that I base
my opinion on casual observation while living in a small North Indian
town.
A few years ago, when I was plagued with wood rats gamboling along the
rafters and doing back flips across my kitchen floor, I decided I needed
a cat. I asked the chowkidar if he could find a cat for the rat problem.
Perhaps with his own agenda, he told me I should learn to live with the
rats and not threaten them with a dirty cat. A rat should be respected
because it is the vehicle of Lord Ganesh.
Not with standing this advice, I did eventually find a cat. She is now
fat and sassy, I have no rats, and the chowkidar's kids love the cat.
This perhaps brings us to the problem of the idea of "pets," is this a
modern idea? Did people in antiquity see pets in the same rather
romantic way that modern society does? Was there a Puranic Rin Tin Tin ?
Meow,
Mary