Our Cats Taught Me A Life Lesson | Day 12 of Blog Marathon

I never thought I’d be writing about animals and specifically cats. Oh! Life is full of surprises!

I’m married into a crazy cat-lover family. My mother-in-law adopted a stray cat as her sons were away from home to seek higher education.

She’s been quite attached to the cat for over six years now. We call her ‘Mani’ or ‘Manya’ or ‘Mother’. She’s a mother to around 40 kittens to date. Cats give birth to a number of kittens every three months.

My mother-in-law does all her pregnancies. She’s very fond of doing everything for Manya.

When I came into this house of cats, Manya had given birth to four kittens. I had not touched a cat in my entire life, and four monsters were hopping from the living room to the bedroom to the kitchen as if it was their house.

A kitten could often come under my feet and screech for life. Thankfully no harm was done from my side to any of my mother-in-law’s kids. Yes, they’re all her kids. She talks to them just like humans would with their babies.

I would find this weird for the first six months. How could someone love an animal so much – it would be my question until my mother-in-law went off on a trip and did not return for around 20 days.

I was left alone with the cats for the first time – Manya and her son, Guddu, from the lockdown batch. Generally, once the kittens start eating regular food like rice, milk, fish, and cat food, we give them to other cat lovers in the vicinity. Guddu did not get a new home, so he stayed back.

I was pissed off all day as Guddu did not allow me to cook in the kitchen. His hunger would always be at its peak 24×7. His constant meows took away my peace. Frustrated and agitated with this pet, I would be in a bad mood for the entire day. I would get tired of serving him food; I don’t know how many times a day.

Maybe he searched my mother-in-law in me and went crazy, for I did not give him the love he wanted.

Their meer touch would petrify me, and one day he was mad at me and scratched my leg. I was helpless as my husband, too, is a cat lover. He said, “It’s love bite”.

Everybody in the house except me loved cats, and one day, I made up my mind to adapt to this.

And thus, I started taking tiny steps toward accepting the cats.

I talked to my mother-in-law about their eating habits, asked her questions, and made myself comfortable when Manya and Guddu were around.

Slowly, I started talking to the cats. Yes! I did.

I don’t believe I could do this ever, but I did it to build a bond with the cats.

Eventually, my frustration levels started coming down. I got involved in cat talks with my husband and mother-in-law. Initially, I would feel left out when they would talk about Manya and Guddu.

Now, I contribute my observations about the cats, and we have a nice family time.

This whole cat thing taught me a life lesson. Life is about getting adapted to the change. Not forcefully but consciously taking efforts towards liking what you do. It’s about doing what is right for you and not what is good for you.

For instance, you need to learn new technology in your workspace to sustain the new project requirement. Because it’s the need of the hour, you’ll have to do it. Sometimes you may feel frustrated to give in those extra efforts. But you know you ought to do it. Then why not enjoy the learning process and sail through it with a smile on your face?

Also, if you want to belong somewhere, sometimes you need to give in to the things that belonged to the place before you came.

I hope you understood what I wanted to convey through my cat story. I’m happy I am learning things my way and not giving up on anything in life. Loving the cats was the first step to loving my new family. And I am glad I made the right decision at the right time.

I’m sure nobody else noticed the change in me but my mother-in-law. She knows now that I’ve adapted to their way of living, and that’s been an ice-breaker.

We find our ice-breakers in life through conscious efforts. So, get up and make that effort if you want a job switch, a promotion, fit in that dress or even have a side hustle.

See you tomorrow with another blog.

Keep striving till you end up smiling!

P.S. One more cat blog coming up. Stay tuned!

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