The Panther like Cat

  “The truth about an animal is far more exciting and altogether more beautiful than all the myths woven about it. ” ― Konrad Lorenz

Mansoor walked down the cool lane calmly. He was ten years old, not very tall, but was fair and well built. He had a school bag on his shoulder and a water bottle in his hand, which he swirled as he walked. He saw people look at him inquisitively, their curiosity was well understood as he smiled. It was the end of April, and the  summer vacation had commenced. The young lady across the road could not stop herself from asking Mansoor as to what made him go for tuitions in the summer vacations. Mansoor smiled and told her that he belonged to the ‘KridaKul’ school and that he had just ten days holidays in the last week of May. The lady asked him ‘Krida’ is to Play so why did he have to carry a huge school bag’. Mansoor patiently described his schedule saying that a ‘KridaKul’ showered equal emphasis on studies and sports. The lady smiled and walked away. Mansoor saw two middle aged men talking, he realised it was late, but wanted to walk self assured so he walked to the men and inquired the time. One of the men smiled and told him it was six in the evening. Mansoor knew he had some more time to trail and reach home by 6.30 pm. He glanced at the tiny hotel across the street, the aroma of fried fish wafted across the street making Mansoor undeniably heedful. He then saw a white pussy cat creep down the terrace of the building, it slid slowly down the make-do roof of the kitchen, put its face into the space across the wall of the open kitchen contemplating whether it could grab a tiny piece of fish. The cook threw the wooden ladle at the cat, it ducked the blow and trodded down the wall gently. It lurked out on the road, licking its paws. Mansoor kept looking at the pussy cat. He watched it lick it clean, the cat’s whiskers frisked due to the various facial expressions and  its  sharp canines were visible as it yawned.

Mansoor kept assessing the similarities. It was not long ago when there were great illustrations of a Leopard pair that had trailed into the outskirts of the city. The newspapers said it was the first occurrence in the heavenly hills of Sinhagad in the city. The  forest department cautioned the trekkers and tourists who favoured these long stretches. Mansoor had been enjoying the days with with his siblings and friends. Mansoor could recollect that the Leopard was a Panther like cat. He had read that the encroachment of land  and an expansion of agriculture had made the leopards to remain wedged between human settlements and parched forests. It tempted the leopards to prey on  domestic animals.  Many of the leopards turned into man eaters when they were wounded, but not trapped. The ensnared ones were handed over to the zoo. Mansoor remembered how one of the leopards was trapped by the forest authorities. It fought in desperation, and finally was given a shot of tranquilizer and later released in a safari zoo.

Mansoor wondered what would be the action taken by the forest authorities in these circumstances. The forest authorities wondered why there were frequent sightings of these leopards that attacked livestock too. They felt the lack of water had drawn these Leopards into the city.   Every day, Mansoor’s father was away at half past four in the morning to help the tourists trek these beautiful hills, the Leopards had never existed in these hills as they had their forested homes beyond these hills. The pug marks and the cattle attacks and reported sightings confirmed the presence of a  man eater. One of the days Mansoor accompanied his father only to be encountered by the leopard that was found resting near the temple on the trekking route. Mansoor remembered it as a large cat, the whiskers, its young soft paws and its gait.  After that incident, people were watchful. People felt that the leopard was on  the prowl in search of food and water, which were diminishing due to poor rains. Mansoor loved the early morning trek to witness the splendour of the sunrise, but he had heard his father say that the human attacks by a man-eater were planned when a person is walking alone or in twos.

A few days later the leopard was spotted at the other end of the city. People felt it was safer to trek then. Mansoor accompanied his father as and when he was able to. After a month there was a news on the sighting of another leopard in the city. The leopard tried to enter houses that had small gardens, which was actually a panic reaction owing to people’s anger and fright. As people feared, it again made its way towards the hills. As it moved stealthily it came across a natural habitat where it took refuge. It remained there for a couple of hours. When hunger overcame its patience the leopard lurked out. It was close to the hills, but could understand that it was still in the city. The neon lights sparked into its eyes, people swarmed around him. Mansoor was out with his father to buy commodities. Suddenly the mob spotted the leopard, people now ran helter skelter. A group of brave men ran steadily, the mob  then had to split either ways as they began to trap the leopard. The leopard lost its wit, it gave a leap and crossed the traffic signal to reach a huge bungalow, but the news of its escape had spread like fire. It was caught,  tranquilizer shots were given and people felt they had rescued a leopard. Mansoor saw the majestic animal, it looked no less than a cat to him, he wanted to pat and run a caressing hand on it to express his love. Mansoor’s father took him to the zoo the next day as the love for cats was in their lineage.

 Mansoor watched the leopard as it lay still, it seemed frail and ill. It looked unconscious and cold. A vet was summoned who declared it to be dead. A post mortem report confirmed that the leopard had died due to a massive cardiac arrest. Fear had influenced the release of adrenaline making the heart beat faster than ever. A leopard has been a cause of fear, but here the mob had  been a cause of anxiety for the leopard driving it to fretfulness resulting in a heart attack. As Mansoor looked at the cat, memories of the leopard cascaded making him aware of the feelings of the animal. He went close to the cat and caressed it, the cat purred and gazed at Mansoor affectionately, perhaps little Mansoor was trying to  relive the panther like cat again.  . 
“It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions. ” ― Mark Twain