Another of my poorly-disguised attempts to sneak cats into this blog. (To see my former attempts, enter "The Indi and the cat" in the search box, top left).
This is my beautiful Tabbyrani with my nutty little INDog-mix Kimaya.
After a rocky start, the two have struck up a strange friendship, possibly because Kimaya was so persistent and Tabby got tired of slapping her.
The truth is, Tabbyrani is a very affectionate little thing, although she puts on that typically feline aloof act (funny how many humans get fooled by that...real cat people never buy it, and neither did Kimaya). She's always happy to be petted and cuddled, or in this case licked. Kimaya nibbles her a lot, searching for ticks and fleas I suppose.
Sometimes Tabbyrani gets annoyed and slaps her. This dog thing of sniffing behinds is NOT allowed.
Because of her resemblance to that largest of tabby cats, Tabbyrani's second name is "Vaghachi moushi," which in Marathi means "tiger's aunt." An explanation of this term is a little beyond my linguistic skills. It's just a folksy sort of tradition about cats. There is an equivalent in Bengali and probably other Indian languages as well.
They wander around the garden on strange secret missions, some of which possibly involve mice...I stay out of these things.
Nagaon
This is my beautiful Tabbyrani with my nutty little INDog-mix Kimaya.
After a rocky start, the two have struck up a strange friendship, possibly because Kimaya was so persistent and Tabby got tired of slapping her.
The truth is, Tabbyrani is a very affectionate little thing, although she puts on that typically feline aloof act (funny how many humans get fooled by that...real cat people never buy it, and neither did Kimaya). She's always happy to be petted and cuddled, or in this case licked. Kimaya nibbles her a lot, searching for ticks and fleas I suppose.
Sometimes Tabbyrani gets annoyed and slaps her. This dog thing of sniffing behinds is NOT allowed.
Because of her resemblance to that largest of tabby cats, Tabbyrani's second name is "Vaghachi moushi," which in Marathi means "tiger's aunt." An explanation of this term is a little beyond my linguistic skills. It's just a folksy sort of tradition about cats. There is an equivalent in Bengali and probably other Indian languages as well.
They wander around the garden on strange secret missions, some of which possibly involve mice...I stay out of these things.
Nagaon
5 comments:
Thank you for sharing so many beautiful and unique friendships. Tabbyrani it was wonderful to see you.
There is an entire Marathi poem that I learnt in primary school about vaghachi moushi, which I used to sing to my cat's kittens - she littered every three months.
Can't resist writing it here:
Mani meow, mani meow, namche tula hava khao,
basta uttda guru guru,
meow meow sada suru.
Gupchup gupchut gharat aeshi,
dahi dudh khaoon jayeshi,
ashe tu kashe tu Vaghachi moushi.
I wish I knew how to translate it well, unfortunately I don't.
That's a lovely poem! I managed to understand the whole thing (with a little help from husband). But you're right...probably untranslatable, specially the purring bit.
there is 1 in gujju also-
me ek biladi pali chhe,
e range bahu rupali che,
e dhai khai, dudh khai,
ghee to chap chap chaati jai,
ena dil par daagh chhe,
e mara gharno waagh chhe! translation-i have a pet cat at home,
it is very beautiful in colour,
it loves to eat curd, milk n ghee,
it has a spot on its body,
its is the tiger of my house!!!!!!
i can safely say that for my cat :) he looks like an expanded tiger :)
Thanks Charu, another cute poem!
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