Of Cats and Dogs

It is often the case that two people in a chummy relationship come across the first occasion when their points of view diverge. Sometimes this separation is apparent and both can see it coming. But sometimes it can spring upon them like a cat on hot bricks.

Now in this latter situation, what with the divergence being so sudden, a debate of sorts can emanate. And as any good debater will tell you, it is not what you are debating about but how you do so that matters. So oftentimes, we come across really heated debates between two really good friends on topics that range from the idealogical (" 'I think men are smarter than women', 'Certainly not!' "), political (" 'The Democrats are the best hope for our country', 'Of course not!' ") personal (" 'I don't think you should meet that %^*$% anymore', 'What do you mean?! I will!' ") and sometimes even going into bizarre territory (" ' Mammooty (The Malayalam star actor) is a big pidingi ', 'You don't know what you are talking about!', 'Oh, so you think he isn't?!!', 'Of course not! I know he is!! But you are prejudiced in saying so!!!'").

This afternoon I had a debate with a very good friend of mine of the contrary gender as my own. This friend and I normally see eye to eye on many issues and so it was a bit of a surprise to me that she and I seemed like antipodes on this particular topic. So different were our points of view that the debate ended nowhere.
But let me add that this debate did not lead to a dog- cat fight of any sort.
Into what category would this classify? Well, it touched upon an ideology, is in some sense personal, and could well be rated bizarre by most. So let me not put a tag to it; I'd rather let you decide.

Now I am quite the pet lover. Actually to be accurate, I am not your rabid, raving pet lover. I am simply not averse to the idea of having a reasonable (and by reasonable, I mean a properly sized, domesticable, and cute mammal) pet at home. Of course this description could have been more tersely reduced to saying 'a dog or a cat'.

Between these two, somehow my preference lies with the cat. To me, there is something more likeable about the cat. Before the dog lovers come after me with a hunting crop, let me explain: while i certainly do like dogs, i just think i would prefer having a cat. A cat somehow embodies a strong sense of independence. Cats don't like being petted against their will, are not needy animals in the sense that they don't crave human attention, are less messy, easier to maintain, eat and poop less, and are in short, low-maintenance.
I told my friend that at one point of time, i had a plan to have 3 cats for company. She visibly winced.
She seemed to be more of a dog-lover. That is alright; after all, we all have our preferences. But a few seconds later came a more candid statement from her:
"It's not that i really like dogs either; its just that i dislike cats!"
From a person who possesses several cat-like features, this admission seemed a little too ironic. Was it dislike or general disinterest? My curiosity was aroused like that of the proverbial cat.
" Well, to be frank, I hate cats! The darned animals!!"
Now this was taking it a step too far. Not only did she clarify that her position was not misunderstood, she now opted to take the extreme end opinion leaving no room for any doubt whatsoever.
usually such an extreme reaction is correlated with a strongly experienced bad experience, especially as a kid. Was there any such....?
"Well, not really...Somehow i have never liked these things at all!"
Now her language cast the cat from the status of 'darned animals' to 'these things'! i had to intervene. If anything, i had to bring it back to the status of 'darned animal'.
Now one method in advertising that works most of the time, is to emphasize upon the positive aspects of the product that is being endorsed. Now i really don't think of cats as particularly useful animals though there was this one time when a pesky, over-animated kid was terrorized by my sister's cat, Mo. Nothing else seemed to control the kid other than the thought of otherwise spending some time with Mo as his sole companion.
The mention of this somehow did the argument no good. If anything it made matters worse! For now my friend seemed to sympathize particularly with the kid. Mo now really appeared to have become Mogambo.
Realizing that i was barking up the wrong tree, i decided to change tactics and now move from the specific to the generic. After all, who can resist a cat that comes looking to be stroked?! a cat brushing against us with its tail upwards and its raised head, waiting, nay, asking to be petted?! or its cute purring? and.....
" Oh that is another thing i hate about the darned animal! It comes suddenly acting so cute and all that!"
another jolt from out of the blue. But at least we were back to the 'darned animal'. But it now seemed like the idea of neutering all the cats of the world (no more cats!) would have appealed to her immensely. This had to be neutralized.
In a manner that might have done the ancient Egyptians proud (well, not really), i rallied in favor of the feline but the female seemed equally strong in her opinion. Soon one thing seemed pretty clear:
My friend + a cat = Catastrophe !

One thing however transpired. It appeared she was spooked by cats for some reason and i think Hollywood and Bollywood have their share of blame in all this. What's up with equating cats with devils and witches and all that?!! The cat has suffered at the hands of these people for way too long! It also has to fight the tag of being a selfish being, as opposed to a dog which is all faithful and man-friendly! Ahaa! its all to do with man and being man-friendly! A cat wishes to live life by its terms and suddenly it is an embodiment of evil!

The day did end with both sides (mine and hers) not relinquishing their stands.

But there is still hope for the cat. I do believe that one day the cat will capture a place in her heart when she sees the cat in the manner i do. and why do i have this hope? because i believe that one good example can change one's mind. She isn't an unreasonable person. I said this aloud.
She believes such a thing (namely, a cat wooing her) is not possible but i reminded her that stranger things have happened. After all, a couple of months ago, the two of us were perfect strangers living half the world away from each other and in a couple more months or so, we would be husband and wife! if that is possible, so is anything!!

As John Cleese once said ('Fawlty Towers'), Long live the cat! Hurrah for the cat!!