With the presence of street monsters (dogs) at every corner of the alley, his home was the only safe place for him. No wonder why he used to scare to step outside! One fine day, couple of street monsters grabbed him and killed him mercilessly. He fought for his life but could not win. He left all of us, leaving loads of sweet memories behind. This post is a small tribute to one of our loving tom named Richard Parker. Below are some points that defined him and his character.
He was loyal – He might not be the one of those handsome toms but he surely was a loyal one. He was loyal to the people he spent his entire life with and to the place he lived in. The fact that he never stole eatables from his house is enough to explain his loyalty. No matter how hungry he gets, he would ask for the food than stealing it. Even in the absence of the people at home, he would not jump on the kitchen and eat food without permission. Stealing things wasn’t in his blood. Period.
He was innocent – It was one of the reasons why he was loved more than any other cat in the house. He was innocent like a baby. You take an empty plate to lure him in to food and he would get fooled in no time and start following you. One could easily spot his innocence by his actions and behavior while being around.
He was peace-loving – The only place to look for him was under the bed, when they play loud music on DJ or play the songs with high volume or beat drums mercilessly or explode firecrackers outside. He used to fear the loud volumes. He would run very fast and hide under the bed as soon as he hears the loud noise outside. He hated the loud noise in his entire life or perhaps he was just a peace-loving tom.
He was foodie – He was a big foodie and why he wouldn’t be? He was born and raised at the place where he got to eat variety of food. From chapati to bread, milk to buttermilk and all the bakery food items, he had tasted everything. The farsan, shev, cookies, samosa and cake are some of the food items I can write from his favorite food list. But, the one food item, he was totally mad at was shev. He used to love eating shev. Offer handful of shev to him and he would finish it within a minute or two. If you are eating farsan or shev sitting in front of him then no one would be saving you from his loud meow, meow and meow. He would not leave until you show him your plate to prove that you are finished with the food or whatever you are eating is not eatable by him. If you don’t show him your plate, he would sit next you making that sorry face and you would be forced to develop some empathy for him.
He was curious – He had this curiosity in his mind about the attic in the kitchen room. Every now and then, he would jump on the attic and spend time over there for no reason. I guess, he loved the place very much which is why he always seemed to find opportunity to make his way to the attic. To break his habit, we had started to place a bucket at the corner of kitchen so that it could act as a huddle in his way. Yeah, it did work but in the absence of bucket he would still find his way to the attic. He stayed curious till the end and now that bucket just makes us miss him more.
He was naughty – He was like a kid. He used to run, jump and play around when happy. He was naughty and would not listen to anyone. He would scratch the woody door or hang on the curtains and you just cannot stop him when he goes crazy. Sometimes he would jump on the TV and then on the showcase and drop the stuff kept over there which would make us worry a lot. Fortunately he never dropped any expensive stuff off the showcase.
He was possessive – He was possessive about his family. He never liked any other tom visiting his home and would feel jealous if the same happens. He would not mind sharing his food with his other siblings but sharing his food with the cats from outside, is something he would take seriously. He would feel insecure if he finds his people loving other tom in front of him. He never liked his people feeding other tom instead of him and to win the love of his people back he used to eat the food which was unlikely to him. Loving him back was the only expectation he held in his heart.
He was cautious – He was very well aware of the fact that he lives in a danger zone. The shaking of a door by the wind would make him scare. He used to stay cautious all the time. He used to smell the danger from far the distance. He used to be afraid of everything but he was not the coward.
He was family – He was like a member of our small family. All of us had a loving bond shared with him. We used to talk about him, talk to him and used to ask his whereabouts in his absence. He belonged to us. He was a family. He still is a family.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ We love you! We miss you! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
