CHENNAI: I have heard many people say that cats are selfish but they are childlike to me. I have always a been a cat lover and luckily, my daughter Kubbra Sait and son Danish Sait also love cats. As a child, I always had cats in my mom's house. But unfortunately, they did not live for long. I used to cry a lot for my loss but I never gave up on getting another kitten home. My mom used to warn that this would be the last kitten to come home but she would always allow me to have a kitten again.
I said the same thing to my children when we lost our cat in 1998 and they convinced me to get another white Persian cat in 2002. We named her 'Beta Sait'. She truly was a strong animal full of attitude but was just like another child in the family.
We had a Facebook page for her and thank God, she was blessed with longer life. She lived with us for 13 years through our thick and thin. I spent a lot of time with her. When my children were away, I would find it easy to communicate and share my feeling with her. She knew me the way my children do.
In 2010, I once took her to Mumbai to visit my daughter Kubbra and guess what, she didn't want to return to Bengaluru. I got back with her but she refused to eat, drink or do potty. Kubbra had to fly down to Bengaluru to take her back. Beta used to monitor the maids at work. She would follow them. She would also follow us when we opened cupboards in our house. Every maid or friend used to wonder why she watched them so closely and feared that she doubted them for honesty.
We celebrated her 12th birthday in Mumbai. We had 20 friends over for celebrations. There were professional performers who played guitar and saxophone. There was some singing and dancing too. For the first time, we had the police come home to warn us to stay quite as our neighbours had complained about us. I told them it was my daughter’s birthday and gave them some cake. They wished Beta a happy birthday and left us with a warning or asked us to pay a fine of `12,500. Beta Sait was a more privileged child than Kubbra and Danish. She would get a way with everything as her mom always fell for her love and stubbornness.
Beta Sait breathed her last on August 16, 2014 on my birthday. We miss her a lot But I am glad she had the best life ever. She was my celebrity child. No one can replace her as she was unique.
Now we have Red Sait in Bengaluru and Shiffu Sait in Mumbai. No matter how well they are taken care of by my children and our maids in my absence, they miss me. When I am with them, they refuse to go to my children or the maids. I guess they consider me their mother.