OF CATS, BOOKSHOPS AND LIBRARIES

 “She peed on me", yelled Shyam, Founder-Partner at Funky Rainbow, and placed her gently on the floor. Kitty was pregnant and had been meowing away in discomfort the whole morning. She kept looking for places to park herself. We tried giving her cartons of various shapes and sizes, lined with towels and bedsheets, to make her comfortable. She finally settled on Shyam’s lap whilst he was working on some illustrations (look-up Greystroke, on Google).

As it turned out, it was not urine, but her water broke, and Kitty was ready to give birth. She got to the front room and had her babies right there. This was her third litter; her first inside our office. After licking the newborn kittens clean, she promptly took them and placed them in the corner behind Shyam’s photography equipment. It took her three days to move them to a snug carton in our balcony (her regular birthing place).

I don’t remember when she first came in, or why she chose to own Funky Rainbow – The Travelling Children’s Bookshop, but I remember author Kavitha Mandanna agreeing to brave traffic and traverse the length of namma ooru to visit us only if Kitty was in attendance. And Kitty, did not disappoint. She was right there, perched on a shelf.

 

Research shows that the relationship between cats and books goes way back to ancient Egypt. While they were domesticated and trained to keep away rodents, and snakes from homes, a few of these cats were trained to protect the papyrus rolls from pests. There is evidence to suggest that cats were used to protect texts containing research material and sacred documents in other civilizations as well.

Today, cats in bookstores or libraries lounge around making sure their minions, are on their toes, working. And of course, they also review the books that come in. Don’t believe me? Ask the wonderful librarians, Radhika and Sudeshna, Co-Founders of Cosy Nook Library and Directors of the Cosy Nook LitFest. One fine day, Anna the Cat, strolled in and showed them who is boss. She sits where she wants, stretches, and curls up wherever, watches the children come and go, and insists on having books, especially picture books, read out at a time and place convenient to her.

 

Such stories abound across the world. Many articles have been written on the topic and pages on cats and books exist aplenty on social media platforms. As for Kitty, Team Funky Rainbow has not seen her for almost three years. She went missing soon after her litter grew up and moved out. Only the empty cartons remain.

 Notes: 

1. An abridged version of this piece was first published in the  August 2021 edition of  Pawprints, a quarterly newsletter, published online by Pugmarks, the community of pet families in an apartment complex in Bangalore. Pawprints is a tapestry of love, laughter, grief, wonder and appreciation that features heartwarming stories about pets, neighbourhood rescues and lots more.

2. "Namma Ooru"  - Local reference to Bangalore