An unconventional Mother-Daughter relationship

I was just 10 years old and one fine morning I became the mother of my feline daughter. She came into my life in her tiniest form and right from that moment I knew that she was mine. She was as gorgeous as queen as smart as new age Gen Zs, as compassionate as human being. Even at that small age, I started learning many new things, eventually made me mature early of my age.

When she came to my life, she was the tiniest creature I have ever saw in my life, so to name her, I chose, “Puchki” which in turn became “Pukki”. She knew her name very well and would never answer if anyone called her in some other name. She made her own routine and made me a part of it and was blindly following her. First few months she grew up very fast and I was awestruck by her transformation. Actually, we grew together. She became my shadow and I became her. During my school hours, it was very difficult for me stay away from her, but I saw she used to come till the gate to bid goodbye in the morning and would wait for me eagerly when I came home after school. My brother and I was best of friends and we played together after our school hours. Eventually Pukki became the third member of our team. Even if she was not playing, she made it a point to be present during our league.

She was a crazy foodie like her Mom, but don’t know how she maintained her toned figure, and remained like that forever. She used to go crazy if she smells ‘Luchi’ (Luchi is a traditional Bengali version of puffed fried bread made of flour). I have never seen or heard of any feline to eat Luchi. Whenever we had Luchi, she would sit in front of the kitchen and would keep on reminding her presence. Though I remember each and every moment with her, there was a funny incident happened with this Luchi. My elder sister got married and our newly wed couple came home after eight days of marriage, as ritual. My brother-in-law was little afraid of feline and was not very comfortable with Pukki. But he realized, that there is certainly no way out to avoid her. Pukki was very calm and composed in her behaviour and silently watching the new member of the family. She knew that some grand feast is going to happen to welcome the newlywed couple. With all these years, I learnt to read her mind clearly. She silently went near the kitchen and realized Luchi was in making. Surprisingly, she did not sit in front of kitchen and did not scream as she generally did. She was probably best in her behaviour that day and had a separate plan of action to welcome my brother-in-law. So, when the food was served, suddenly she was out of my sight and honestly, I was busy in managing the lunch program, so somehow ignored her. After sometime, I saw my brother-in-law was showing discomfort but not saying anything. He was hesitant but could clearly figure out there was something going on. When I asked him, he indicated something is there below the table. I looked into and saw Pukki is sitting on the feet of my brother-in-law and staring at him. I quickly understood her plan, she wanted Luchi from him, as she might thought that this is the best way to make the friendship with the new family member. Later they became friends and she created new histories of welcoming people. Other than Luchi, she was fond of Rabri (A traditional sweet made from continuous condensing the milk) and Alur Chop (A Bengali favourite, cutlet made from potato, coated with chickpea flour and deep fried) and she was given homeopathy medicines when she remained unwell.

Being a feline, hunting was her nature. But she knew what to hunt and what not to. Like after I came home from school, then college and then office, Pukki and I used to take a stroll on our terrace. She used to tell her day story, like how she avoided hunting the sparrow or mayna, ever they were very tempting, as I have asked her not to look at them through the eyes of hunting. How she reached the other side of the pond and then came back without any problem and so on and so forth. Even when she hunted any rat or mouse, she never ate them rather she used to call me on the top of her voice to announce her victory. Like the hunters used to kill the animal and took photos, she absolutely did the same and when I came to see her prey, she used put her paw over her prey and showcase her victory.

Pukki had a very strong personality and was very cleared about her boundaries. She did not allow anyone to cuddle her except me. My brother was very fond of her, even Pukki was very fond of him, but she never allowed anyone to pick her up in the lap and cuddle. I only had that privilege. She had a very humanly nature and could understand all our feelings and emotions. There are so many things to talk about her, but here I will put together, what I have learnt from her.

1. Putting a boundary is always required. Else people take things for granted and even that daunts the mental and emotional health
2. She was always clear on her action. Even if it did not go well, she never escaped from the situation. She was apologetic for anything she did, went wrong
3. She had her personal time, like when she was busy cleaning herself, or might just taking a nap. Absolutely of her own choice
4. She was focused and she achieved what she wanted, but in a very strategic and planned way
5. She was compassionate and lovable to all who are around her but privilege to come closer to her was very limited.

It is very unconventional to learn something from a non-human. But I believe in the power of nature which empowers all the living creature in this earth. So, I never hesitated to learn from my feline daughter the ‘life-lessons’.