Fond memories of Mishka, his exploits

Dinner time in the hostel was noisy with excited and eager voices of hungry hostel mates creating a cacophony. The TV room, where most girls flocked to watch prime time serials, was located near the mess.

I was not much of an avid TV watcher back then.

A fleeting glance to catch the current heartthrobs of the girls was an occasional interest.

But that day as I walked past the TV room, I heard loud hysterical wails. The centre of the room was empty. There stood a golden brown fuzzy cat lick- ing its paws.

Since the hostel was common for vets, agriculture and home science students, many of them did not like the uninvited entry of stray animals.

Vets were always called to chaperon their professional interests out of the hostel.

Back to the scene of the cacophony, the situation had calmed down and some girls were even giggling.

The serial took a rather abrupt turn and the cat was soon forgotten among the ‘oohs and the aahs’ of the excited girls.

I took a liking for the furry and fussy tom (male) cat that became a permanent fixture of our hostel.

The cat could be frequently found on the premises of the vet block. On some days I fed him and we became buddies soon.

I named him Mishka. Mishka was a very friendly cat and inadvertently sneaked into the TV room.

He crept silently under chairs, to appear suddenly with a finesse in front of an unsuspecting spectator.

The girls would scream and Mishka took a perverse pleasure in scaring them off. It became a daily routine, Mishka with his tail upright and uptight moving among the chairs.

A little brush here and there and it created an uproar in the TV room.

These callisthenics continued for a week but Mishka remained blasé.

Finally one day Mishka was reported to the hostel warden. He was whisked off from the compound and left at some solitary spot.

After few days I did spot Mishka outside the hostel.

He meowed softly and moved graciously around me for a while and after that one leap and he was gone.

I never saw him again but memories of his exploits in the TV room make me smile even today.

MISHKA WAS A VERY FRIENDLY CAT AND INADVERTENTLY SNEAKED INTO THE TV ROOM. HE CREPT SILENTLY UNDER CHAIRS, TO APPEAR SUDDENLY WITH A FINESSE IN FRONT OF AN UNSUSPECTING SPECTATOR