Juma and his two other siblings (Jameel and Jameela) arrived in Kitzania when they were five weeks old. It was fascinating to watch how they slowly settled in among other big cats and kittens. First it was a question of finding the right spot to sit in and sleep on that didn’t belong to any of the big cats. Of course, it wasn’t that easy as good spots (with moist ground and shade to beat the heat) were already taken (equivalent to finding a good car parking spot in a human world).
The kittens had to roam around a bit till they found a spot that was convenient for them, right next to the back door. The spot was perfect as gust of cool air came from indoor through the door’s threshold and kept them chilled. But it wasn’t convenient for us, as we had to be super careful opening and closing the door. The other overwhelming experience for the kittens was food time, when all cats turned into monsters. Being pushed over and slapped wasn’t their idea of a peaceful meal. And why does everyone seem so interested in the plate they’re eating from? Being the dominant type, Jameel learned an interesting technique that involved pushing the heads of other kittens with both paws, while eating from the plate.
Lacking in brawn, Juma used his beauty and brains instead. Juma took advantage of his cute looks (combining it with a helpless attitude) to win the house helper’s attention. With that, he gained access to the whole house including the food heaven (i.e. the kitchen). Two weeks back on a Thursday morning, I noticed that the siblings were missing for breakfast. I went around the garden looking for them and only found Jameela hiding under the car. In the afternoon, Jameel appeared but not Juma, which worried me even more. But the next morning Juma appeared and so did the mystery of his disappearance. Around 9 am of the previous day, Juma and Jameel followed the helper to the only shop we have in our neighbourhood. The helper didn’t take notice of them, bought some grocery and went straight home. Jameel followed him and managed to get half way, but then decided to hide in the neighbour’s shrub as the ground was burning hot to walk on.
In the afternoon, he caught sight of the helper throwing the garbage and followed him back. Juma on the other hand roamed around the shop and found the night guard’s air-conditioned cabin. Being cute and tiny, the guard felt sorry for him and kept him in during the day. In the late afternoon and while my dad was taking rest from his daily stroll at the guard’s cabin, he saw Juma. The guard shared his sob story and dad felt sorry for the lost kitten. He decided to play his favourite role of the pet rescuer and asked for a plastic bag to carry the kitten home thinking: “one more won’t do harm!”. And Juma was back!
Unaware of him being one of our kittens — and to my mum’s dismay — dad boasted that he’d saved a soul today while mum grumbled that we had enough cats. I missed seeing Juma that evening but was delighted to see him the next morning. Dad came out to the balcony asking if I’d seen the “poor white kitten that he’d saved last night”. Being the only white kitten in the lot and hearing dad’s side of the story, I was able to piece together Juma’s great adventure to the world’s end! Eid Mubarak to all!
(Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of: The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com)
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
