Cuddly cats and myths

"Has the cat got your tongue?"

The teacher was visibly annoyed because I did not answer her questions or remained silent in the class. I was too shy to speak even if I knew the answer. Meanwhile, I was thinking of my pet cat - one of those stray ones - which appeared to know many things from staying clean all the time and eliminating the mice that made my life miserable.

Although the cat is a small animal with fur, four legs, a tail and claws, usually kept as a pet or for catching mice, I think that it has changed our lives and culture. Ancient Egyptians are believed to have been the first to domesticate the wild cat. Soon it became the centre of many Egyptian myths and superstitions. They associated the cat with one of their goddesses - Bastet - who was the Goddess of the Moon. In the statues and pictures they drew, the goddess was depicted with a cat's head.

Ancient Egyptians guarded their cats jealously and the inevitable happened. Some unscrupulous traders managed to smuggle them out of Egypt and sell them to people in China and Japan. After some years, cats found a foothold in other Asian countries such as India and Sri Lanka.

As cats were associated with faith in gods in Egypt, they soon became the symbol of fertility. Cats were fed well and cared for. They were honoured even after their death. Egyptians used to give expensive funerals to dead cats. Their bodies were placed in coffins decorated with crystal and gold. Thousands of mummified cats were unearthed in a small village in Egypt. Archaeologists believe that thousands more could be found if excavations were done.

In a world where everything changes the practice of treating cats with religious fervour too came to an end. By a quirk of fate, some people following a particular religion began to destroy cats. A superstition spread like wildfire claiming that evil women turned themselves into cats to carry on their nefarious activities. In certain parts of ancient Egypt cats were burnt to death or dropped from rooftops. But the latter method did not have the desired effect because most cats when dropped from rooftops survived.

In India and Sri Lanka where Hinduism and Buddhism prevailed, cats were not treated unfavourably. In fact, Chinese people born in the Year of the Cat were thought to be intelligent and virtuous. Asian countries also began to treat the cat as a symbol of prosperity.

According to superstition, black cats were thought to bring luck. For instance, if a black cat crosses your path; your journey will be successful.

Cats are usually beautiful and graceful animals which are very patient with children. Unlike dogs they love to be carried here and there.

They are such amusing little creatures that give us a sense of pleasure after a hard day's work. What is more, lonely people prefer to keep cats as companions.

Cats are specialised hunters. The cat knows how to walk softly without making the slightest noise. It does not have to be trained to chase mice and kill them. The training comes naturally. The kitten rehearses the way in which it can catch and kill a mouse by playing with a ping-pong ball or running after a cockroach. Unlike many other predators, the cat plays with its prey before killing it. Sometimes, the cat does not eat the mouse it kills and just leaves it. A friend tells me that her cat- Princess- used to bring dead mice and leave them near her bed as presents!

The cat has enriched the English language to a great extent. Some of the idioms and proverbs involving cats are memorable. When you allow a secret to be known usually without intending to do so, you simply "let the cat out of the bag." When you see somebody in a state of extreme nervous worry, he is "like a cat on a hot tin roof." If somebody brings home something very untidy and dirty, it will look like "something the cat brought." Sometimes we "play cat and mouse" when we try to defeat somebody by tricking them into making a mistake so that we have an advantage over them. There are people who "put the cat among the pigeons" when they want to cause trouble or make you angry.

The position of the cat today is somewhat precarious. Apart from the domesticated cats in our houses, you can see many stray cats in every city and village. They eat anything they could find in garbage dumps or do some hunting on their own. Cats in affluent homes receive all the comforts, nourishing food and medical care. Some of these cats may not have seen a mouse in their entire lives!

Whether you treat the cat as a symbol of fortune or evil, we have come to a stage where we have to share our lives with it. Even if you hate cats, they will live with us until Doom's Day!