My feline flatmates

As promised, here's the story about the cats.
So, it was just another usual morning. I sprung out of bed, smiling and excited about yet another day at work (Really!) and hopped and skipped to the bathroom. Only to be greeted by one of IPR's cats. This one’s called Zoey. I finally found out the names of the four cats: Lily, Midnight, Grace and Zoey. The names are pretty easy to remember if you’ve seen the cats.

Lily – she’s white. She is the biggest of the four, but for her size she is meek you know. If you are as much as 10 steps near her, she will run for her life. She sleeps near the fridge and looks up every time I open it.

Midnight – Haven’t seen her around much because she is locked up in IPR’s room most of the time. She is the new one and the other cats fight with her. So she will be kept in the room until the others are accustomed to her. And as the name suggests, she is as black as midnight. But I caught a glimpse of her yesterday and I kid you not, she looks big and a little oddly shaped.

Grace – She is another black cat. Build: Slender. And hence the name. She is quite active. I guess that’s the secret to her well-kept, well-groomed figure. Once in a while she stops outside my room when she finds the door ajar for a few seconds. I keep my door closed at all times because I really don’t want these creatures in my room.

Zoey – Last but not the least, this one deserves a special mention. Now if you pay attention to detail, then you would have noticed that I haven’t attached a gender to this one. It’s still a mystery to me. I think it’s a she. But it could be a he too. Whatever. We will refer to ‘it’ as ‘it’. Okay?

So yeah, the story revolves around Zoey. It’s a pretty big black cat. And the kind that gives you a cold stare every now and then, sending shivers down your body. It sort of would remind one of he who must not be named (Yay! The new HP movie is here. Can’t wait to see it!). So on that fine morning, Zoey decided to curl up on the window sil of the only window of the only bathroom in my apartment. And it gave me one of its cold stares as I entered the bathroom…the kind which sizes you up and says ‘Remember this is my space’. I tried to shoo it away. But it didn’t budge. I tried different things (including politely pointing to the door, and I kid you not, I bet it understood and still ignored my gesture and proceeded to make itself more comfortable). So I thought ‘Ok. Let it have its moment of glory’ while I switched activities in my morning routine and proceeded to make my morning cuppa tea. Once done with that, I went back to the bathroom feeling confident that Zoey would have respected the extra allowance of window time and proceeded to its next perch. But no, our friend Zoey was still happily gazing outside the window (longing for the birds flying by I guess). Now folks, you know how mornings are. You have just about enough time for a quick shower and then you run to the bus stop. So I could not give it any more time. I decided to be brave and ignore the fact that a cat was in the bathroom. So I stepped into the bath tub and turned the shower on. And at the very moment when the first drop of water touched the bottom of the bath tub, Zoey’s feet touched the bath tub sil (For lack of a better word, I am using this to refer to the side of the bathtub. If anybody knows what it should be called, please let me know so that I can edit it.) So from the other side of the shower curtain, I could see Zoey’s silhouette perched on the bathtub sil. I poked Zoey from the other side of the curtain, gingerly, with just one finger. And it jumped onto the bathroom floor. Then, thanks to my quick thinking (I know you want to pat my back right now!), I quickly opened the bathroom door and out ran Zoey! So, our mighty looking Zoey is actually scared of the water. But I wonder why it didn’t run when I flushed after you know what. Maybe when I turned on the shower, horror memories flashed in front of Zoey’s eyes – of IPR giving it a good scrub. That explains it.
And by now I know you must be dying to see a picture of the hero/heroine of our today’s story. So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the star of the evening:


Zoey on its other favorite perch: Kitchen window sil

That’s another thing about Zoey that irritates me. Every now and then, Zoey's paw will rest on the cutting board. Now why would it want to rest its paw (which I am sure is awesomely manicured. Cmon, even if it’s a he, can’t a man, err feline male, enjoy a manicure these days?! 21st century. Metrosexual men. Remember?) on the cutting board which us humans use to cut our daily bread?! And IPR is no less. She will keep the cutting board right there. As if it’s Zoey’s birth right to keep its paw there, like it’s not a cutting board. It’s a paw resting board. And IPR will use the same scotch brite for her dishes and the cats’ dishes. Ewww! Who in their right mind would love cats so much and who in their seriously right mind would want four of them creatures in their house?! Our friend P.J. O'Rourke has explained it very succinctly:

“It's easy to understand why the cat has eclipsed the dog as modern America's favorite pet. People like pets to possess the same qualities they do. Cats are irresponsible and recognize no authority, yet are completely dependent on others for their material needs. Cats cannot be made to do anything useful. Cats are mean for the fun of it.”

I have no idea who P.J. O'Rourke is. But I agree with him. And no, bathing with a cat is not on my list of ’50 things to do before I turn 30’. But I am adding it now. ‘Cos how many of you can boast of having done that? ;)

And just so that I don't offend the other feline inmates of this apartment, here's :


Lily reclining on the cane basket oppposite the fridge


Grace on one of her periodic stops outside my room

The paparazzi has not yet succeeded in clicking a picture of Midnight because as I said she is kept under tight surveillance or shall I say 24 hours security. But they are working on it. So please keep checking this page regularly for updates!