Anima Bhattacharya
Diploma in French Language (2009)
Department of International Relationship
It is mid-day- three cats, one black, one brown and white mixed and the third one white, are chatting at the back side of a building. The names of the cats as given by their masters are Baddy,
Mini and Jenny, respectively.
Baddy: My friends, you are very lucky. Your master, mistress and their children love you so much. They pat you, children allow you to sleep on their beds, Is it not?
Jenny: Yes, yes, you are right. They give me fish, milk and rice. The children love me dearly.
Mini : My case is the same as Jenny's. But Baddy, my friend, what is the problem with you? Don't your master and their children love you? Are you not fed well?
Baddy: Listen, my friends, when I was a kid, I understand we were four brothers and sisters. One of us died when he was only two months old. We were three then. We three grew up together. They used to call me Baddy. One night I heard my mistress saying, "Chase out the black one from the house. It's a very unlucky one. When I see it in the morning, my day goes bad. I reach office late, hear a mouthful from my boss and everything goes bad through out the day." And so, on one night, I was thrown away in a bag tied with a rope near a dustbin far away from the house. A kind watchman saved me.
Mini: How cruel they are! But where are you staying now?
Baddy: I am like a street dog now. I have no fixed place to sleep and stay.
Jenny : But I can't understand whey you are unlucky.
Baddy: I am black. I am not white or of any other colour. And that is my crime! (Jenny and Mini laugh !!!)
- 2 -
Mini: Your mistress goes late to her office, that is her own fault. How are you responsible for that? People are so foolish ! Actually they believe in superstitions.
Jenny: Yes, you are right, Mini. We are not responsible for our colour. We cats know this simple fact, but men do not know this. Tell me, friends, are all men of same colour?
Jenny: Certainly now. They are also of white, brown and black colour.
Baddy: Yet I have to suffer. In winter and during the monsoon, when you sleep in the houses full-fed, scared I roam here and there seeking a cozy place to hide and protect myself from the cold and rains. I am always hungry. I get a little food left in streets. You know, now-a-days people do not waste food for us.
Mini: But why scared? Well from tomorrow I and Jenny will give you some food from our share, Is that okay?
Baddy: Thank you, my friends. You know, if men and children see me in the street, they throw stones at me. I am hurt. I limp. If somebody travels by a car and at that time if I cross the road in front of that car, they get anxious. They pull the brakes and suddenly wait for some time. I am a black cat. I am unlucky. I am terrible. I may cause an accident to them. I may cause a death. Only my sight may cause terrible things. Tell me, is there any science behind all these?
Jenny and Mini (sadly): No, no. It is not science. It is only superstition!