Excerpts from B.N. Goswamy’s The Indian Cat: Stories, Paintings, Poetry, and Proverbs
The Hindu
The Indian Cat: Stories, Paintings, Poetry, and Proverbs, by art historian B.N. Goswamy brings us selection of stories, essays, art and poetry that celebrate our long, historical and often delightful association with our beloved feline friends. Here are some excerpts
Here are two stories from the book:
In the Karnataka region a cycle of stories is told with relish, lauding the young Tenali Rama who lived in the times of the great king of the Vijayanagara empire, Krishnadeva Raya, and with whom he had many encounters. Almost always, young Tenali had something to say to his monarch or solve for him a situation which others at the court could not. As in this story involving a cat.
One day, when King Sri Krishnadeva Raya was sitting in his court, he heard a commotion outside the palace gates. He commanded the guards to find out what it was. A guard came with a man who identified himself as the village head. The king asked him what the matter was. The man replied, ‘Your 57 majesty, our village is infested by rats. The rats are destroying our food grains and creating chaos in the village. Please save us.’
The king assured the village head by saying, ‘Fear not, my good man. I will consult with my courtiers and find a solution to your problem.’
King Sri Krishnadeva Raya ordered his ministers to arrive at a solution. One of the ministers stood up and said, ‘Your majesty, since cats eat rats, we can solve this rat menace by giving one cat to each household in the village.’
‘But how would the poor villagers feed the cats?’ asked another minister.
The minister suggested that they could give a cow along with a cat so that the cats can feed on milk.
Sumit Nagal attained the 77th place in ATP rankings. As per the established criteria, the top 56 players, both in men’s and women’s rankings, will attain automatic qualification for the Olympics but no more than four per country can make the cut for the Games, a rule which allows lower ranked players to sneak into the draw.