It is amazing, even today, just how much time and effort it took to befriend you, and I still don't know if we ever succeeded! It is not without rejection that you finally started accepting our food. You were irregular, but my father was persistent, to the point of stalking you, and his effort paid off when you became regular with your food timings at our window.
I cannot say if you ever truly became attached to us. You hated the human touch, that's for sure. You would not forgive us even if it was an accidental touch.
When you were operated once at IDA (for sterilization) I particularly remember my father's astonishment when he visited you at the IDA center, on finding a label on your cage that read 'Aggressive'. IDA has numerous cats, impossible to count, and it was very amusing for us to note that you alone had been termed aggressive! I imagine you must have put up a tough show or fight - something rebellious to invite the label :)
I remember all your fights with crows. They would come near you, and you would hiss back at them with hatred. I have no idea why they kept coming near you. Maybe they liked irritating you, like I did too at times :)
You gave us Kumari. She is such a well-behaved thing! I do not like that you never posed for photographs. It has always been a challenge. I think I won though, when I managed to get a shot of your eye.
As you grew older, you became more accustomed to my mother's company. Although you once attacked her for no reason, when she tried to place a cup of milk at the window. But later, you would not run away when she came near you, and that is the friendliest you got to any human being.
Your last days were very bad, and my family is truly sorry we could not help you. Your eye infection set in a few months ago, and it progressively worsened. My father spoke to multiple vets, we (unsuccessfully) tried mixing drugs in your food, I wrote to a few seeking help/counsel about your condition.
Your last day will be unforgettable in our lives. I wish there was a way to explain to you that we called IDA only to help you. You were sleeping in the bush when they fired the tranquillizer at you. Nobody imagined you would react so violently to it - scrambling up the wall in panic. Oh, I will never forget the feeling of panic and fear I experienced at that moment - my heart was bleeding for you. I am so, so sorry we put you through all the pain. We were only trying to help. I hope you forgive us. Please, please forgive us.
My mother misses you the most. My father regrets calling IDA, given that you were getting old. But we really hated the state of your eyes and your discomfort.
I will end this here by telling you how much I have admired your nature - your adamance in never letting us near, your abstinence from any form or expression of love, forever trying to set an example for other cats, in your own, original way.
