Feline fancies

Are you a cat person or a dog person ?
This topic divides the populace, just like India and Pakistan. And despite the extremist views that exist on the K issue , there are several Indians and Pakistanis who like each other . Not convinced? Think again...how many of you liked Nazia Hassan and crushed on Zoheb when Disco Deewane raged in the early 80s? How many of you like Junoon and Adnan Sami? I absolutely adore Mohammed Hanif ( those of you who like to read, check out his Case of Exploding Mangoes ) and Mohsin Hamid. Likewise, some people love cats and dogs almost with the same passion but I don't belong to that category. Sure kittens look cute , adorable and all other adjectives that cat lovers come up with but for me , a cat is a cat is cat..I don't want to hurt feelings of my dear cat lover friends. But this ginger cat that moans ( or whines ) eerily in the evenings near my home gets me..Oh no, I don't hate cats , rather I tolerate them to the extent that I remember feeding a cat every day at my hostel after my cat lover friend left . But that was for a dear friend and not for the cat! Yet I did it without any ill feeling. And one confession-I never liked Garfield !
My Egypt trip was full of cat encounters..There were cats just about everywhere.In the evenings, they would wander around parks and public places ,to share the iftar meal with families who liked to break their fasts in picnic mode ( wonderful aromas of kebabs and biriyani would fill the air..can't blame them !) . Egyptians are tolerant of cats as they are traditionally the people who domesticated cats in the first place. Cat has a place in their pantheon of gods too. Bas or Bastet, a goddess with the cat's head and a woman's body is the goddess of the home, fertility, women among other things.. The Egyptians loved their cats to the extent that there are even they were mummified like their masters Besides cat mummies , we saw other aninal mummies too dog, croc ,cow, baboon , horse, all at the wonderful museum they have at Cairo. And before you ask-no camel mummies! Ahh..that cat it's begun making that creepy noise again....