My latest book is The One Who Swam With The Fishes.

"A mesmerizing account of the well-known story of Matsyagandha ... and her transformation from fisherman’s daughter to Satyavati, Santanu’s royal consort and the Mother/Progenitor of the Kuru clan." - Hindustan Times

"Themes of fate, morality and power overlay a subtle and essential feminism to make this lyrical book a must-read. If this is Madhavan’s first book in the Girls from the Mahabharata series, there is much to look forward to in the months to come." - Open Magazine

"A gleeful dollop of Blytonian magic ... Reddy Madhavan is also able to tackle some fairly sensitive subjects such as identity, the love of and karmic ties with parents, adoption, the first sexual encounter, loneliness, and my favourite, feminist rage." - Scroll



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20 February 2007

The Cat And I

There's an orange kitten yowling underneath my bed. For something so tiny, she makes a lot of noise. Did you know kittens howl? Because this one does, howls and whimpers and makes her disapproval at being taken away from her mother quite vocal. Did you get any sleep last night? Because I certainly didn't. Not even when I woke up and begged her—on my knees—that tomorrow one of us would be pissed off and the other exhausted and did she really want to deal with the pissed offedness and the exhaustion at the same time? Couldn't she leave off the yowling till, say, eleven am, which is a reasonable hour to yowl, I would say. She looked at me balefully (cats are excellent with these baleful looks I realise) and said, opening her tiny mouth as far as it would go "YOU'RE THE REASON I'M HERE YOU WHORE OF SATAN." Right. So not a good beginning.

So, yeah, I got a cat. While 40,000 other people lined up to watch Roger Waters, I went armed with a pink plastic picnic basket and a bottle of wine to pick up the kitten. (And as gesture of gratitude, I should mention the cat is formerly her property, but I went with this
guy
to pick her up. Much appreciated, btw.) Anyway. The Cat was not happy about being bundled into a picnic basket. She was caught, not without quite a fight I might add, as she scampered away and hid under beds and couches and everything and her mother appeared looking so sad and so accusing, that I nearly cried. Finally, the cat was caught, and we took her back home, where she hid under a cupboard, yowling every now and then and we finished the bottle of wine, that had been sent back with us. Good wine.

This morning, there were two favourable accomplishments. One, is that the litter box had been used after just one gentle reminder. Another was that she finally deigned to eat something, and when I went down on my stomach and yanked her out from underneath the cupboard she looked happy to see me and we spent the next hour getting acquainted, with her butting her head on my legs and entwining herself around me and general cat affection. Then she explored the house, letting out experimental yowls, waited for me to lift her onto the windowsill where she stayed for some time, and then the construction noises started and all my good work was undone because she rolled her eyes at me, thinking surely, I can't trust this woman for an instant and then took off to yowl under the cupboard. Now she's stopped. I think (hope) she's fallen asleep.

So, after much debating last night, her name finally came to me around 3.30 in the morning, I think, as I was stuffing a pillow over my head to block out her sounds. Her name is tc (note the lower case, this is a cummings type cat) tc for the cat and, duh, for turquoise cottage. I think it's a pretty cool name in a double-meaningy sort of way. tc could mean so many things—tangerine coloured, total chaos, tummy crawler, you get the picture. And it's a nice sort of name for a cat.

"So, the cat," I said to her this morning as she attacked my toes, "It's not such a bad world after all, now is it?"
"Aieou," said the cat, "aieou, aieou."

Hey, at least she knows her vowels.

25 comments:

  1. tee-hee, tc. bless you. did scritch pay u in wine for takin care of her cat?

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  2. haha, no. the wine was for her mother, who refused it and made me take it back home. :)

    i'm glad you like the name, my flatmate has been objecting vociferously.

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  3. "While 40,000 other people....... pick up the kitten. "
    meaning you cldnt get the free pass ? ha ha !!

    Farcical !! i hope you don't write for a living !!
    entertaining this blog is nonetheless for reasons you didn't intend !

    passing by...

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  4. aww you have a little kitten! as much as i wanna get myself two puppies called gabar and thakur, i think as a 5-day a week job person cats make better pets. but you tell me.

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  5. I have a big, heavy, part lab part newfoundland... he's got this rare dark brown color, and we got him from pakistan... he finally lost his virginity at the ripe old age of 33 (or 5 as we silly humans count), after three tries over two days... he isn't actually overweight, but he's too big for a plain lab, but he was so heavy that the poor skinny black lab we mated him with had trouble keeping her backside up for him for the duration of it... either way, puppies soon :D

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  6. Funny, why do I only imagine white-haired, delicate looking women when I think of cats! Must be all those Agatha Cristies I read in a different lifetime. :)

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  7. Well that sure brings you one step closer to the whole 'old lady with seven cats' thingy... ;)

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  8. inexile: actually i was offered four passes, by the end of sunday evening. so no.

    jade: :) thanks

    hobo: well two puppies means two sets of potty training, two sets of things to buy and most importantly, someone willing to look after two dogs. tc toilet trained herself yesterday, and i feel like a proud mother. :)

    renovatio: wow, part newfoundland? those are beautiful. but no, my dog (who lives with my mum) is a total slut and is always getting herslef knocked up. tc shall be spayed soon.

    shantanu: haha.. no, i feel like a white haired old lady, especially since i'm barely getting any sleep thanks to madam early riser.

    rohini: i know! six to go!

    the saint: excellent idea, thank you. right now she's batting around some newspaper. you must come over soon and see her.

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  9. hey ur dog is quite a looker.she looks alot like the doggie i had. a rich brown spaniel.

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  10. Congratulations on the new roommate. Also, warning that cats leave you just when you're falling in love them.

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  11. Top Cat!
    The most effectual Top Cat!
    Whose intellectual close friends get to call him T.C.
    Providing it's with dignity.
    Top Cat!
    The indisputable leader of the gang.
    He's the boss, he's a VIP, he's the championship.
    He's the most tip top,
    Top Cat.
    Yes he's a chief, he's a king
    But above everything,
    He's the most tip top,
    Top Cat.
    Top Cat!

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  12. Congratulations on getting a cat !

    ...and tc is a good name...:)

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  13. oh my poor kitten. the mother cat is quite upset I am told. she keeps calling for her.
    I feel bad now. Hopefully she will recover from it. i dont know. humans are so shit to animals really.

    But don't let her fall down your stairs or the building balcony. my mother seems a bit concerned and also happened to mention your pink basket with much amusement.
    give some kisses to my ex-kitty.

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  14. It all makes perfect sense....

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  15. shes fine, not to worry. the yowling has stopped, and she's happily scampering around the house chasing curtains and dust but ignoring pointedly the clockwork mouse i bought her. talk about gratitude. and we're keeping an eye on her to see she doesn't fall off anything. :) kisses have been conveyed.

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  16. Hell!!! Could you be more lame and uncreative and unoriginal? You've stolen (or should i say, been inspired by) the name from richa's cat - TK. Get a life, woman. And i do hope you KNOW how to keep a cat happy and safe - would wish the worse on you if something happens to it!

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  17. in the wise words of my cousins when they were ten: anon what's tickling your ass man?

    ps: i would also like to point out that audrey hepburn's cat in breakfast at tiffany's was called cat.

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  18. best post ever..........i don't know you but i want to see the cat. can you put a pic or two?

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  19. i will! i will!..next time i get a kitten i am calling it Schroedinger's Cat. Maybe people will stop looking for it then..

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  20. wow my ex- cat is generating a lot of interest from your ardent fans [ick]

    I think my mother wants it back. She sounded very mournful on the phone [thats MY mother not the cats mother]

    I think squee was far and away one of the most well chosen names ever for a cat.

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  21. Aww... cats are adorable.. and I like TC... my sis' named her cat Vodka..its tough when you need to call the cat..but you can guess the state she might have been in when she named the cat :)

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  22. Oh such an old post. But it was so heartwarming! I love cats!

    Discovered your blog recently and have to concede that you have a pretty awesome blog with write ups that seem to be straight from the heart. But I am sure you know that already! :)
    Cheers.

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  23. Was not much of a pet person cos basically m allergic n really afraid of bites and scratches and injections that follow the bites and scratches!Anyways it way too late but m happy you gt at d least a cat to come back home to...

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