RIFLE RANGE BOY

That particular holiday, I decided to go for a run. Just as I was completing my 10km, coming around a corner, my eyes locked on two kittens. They huddled together, appearing scared, looking at all the things swiftly passing them. They were not shivering; the sun was warming up the morning. Their eyes reminded me of many cartoons that portray little Tom as a pathetic-looking cat pleading for attention from his masters. I asked myself what would happen to them and how they landed in a world so hostile. It is no fault of theirs. They, or even we, did not ask to be born on Earth. As I do not remember asking. Just because some cat decided to be horny, again through no fault of daddy cat, the two kittens came to be. Daddy cat was programmed by Nature that it was mating season. Mommy cat was coerced to give in, for it was her oestrus cycle. If the pitiful state of the kittens' existence was totally unnecessary and could have been prevented by Nature, instead of subjecting them defenceless...

Kuroneko (@ Black Cat, Japanese; 1968) Director:  Kaneto Shindō Thinking about it, primitive societies of yesteryears were run mainly by female tribe members. The male members were mostly out of the scene most of the time. Some may have been out hunting for food during their caveman days. In more civil societies, when aristocracy ruled the day, the male members needed to do their national services. Many left for months or even years together to fight wars. Children mostly grow up with absent fathers.  Wives led the pack in their day-to-day running of the family unit. Men were left to make many life-changing decisions like defence, security, foreign relations and food security. Guarding the household is no small feat. Nature is very unwelcoming and hostile. Torrential rains, storms, extreme temperatures and wild beasts frequently harass their abode. So, the female species was not as fragile as modern man had made them out to be. They are actually more robust than the world cred...

Just the day I was thinking... Unlike my dog in childhood, Rexxie, who used to get all excited, jumpy, tongue waggly, drolly kind at the sight of any of the family members as they return home, Felix (the cat) is not the least bothered. Returning home after a hard days' work, you think that looking at some(one) who is all excited about your return would j ust make you feel alright . But Felix at the corner has other plans... He saunters casually in a relaxed fashion, strutting his stuff, gyrating his hind legs (guess that is why they call it catwalk) walking haughtily  with his nose held high ( like inhaling imported air ) looking away from you without a care in the world. At that moment he does not need anything, only his breathing space! Just leave him alone (s top dogging him around !) pun not intended... catwalk He does not need you right now. You have bought his chow, his litter bag, his playpen, got his veterinary needs fulfilled. He is big and strong, he d...

At the beginning of last century, the period in the time of a child's life called childhood did not exist. People like Tom Sawyer did not have a time in their life that they can reminisce as childhood. Kids at that time just grew fast, learnt as much and as fast as they could and matured fast, in time when they are physically developed to perform the duties of an adult. Nobody bothered, and it was not a problem, that their tender years are not paved with love, affection, comradeship and groupies. They did not become deranged psychopaths ala Norman Bates. Even as late as the 70s, nineteen year olds were donning military fatigues and marching to war.  In the Eastern culture, children were to seen, not heard. The children were basically void of emotions and were just growing vessels who were supposed to be grateful to be born, fed and prepared for the future.  Then came the modern way of bringing up children. These vessels suddenly had become sensitive fragile mimosa pu...