Past Vs. Present

There was an old couple who lived at Ambala in Haryana. They were very pious, gentle, religious, polite, helpful. There were no more adjectives that could describe them. They lived a very simple and healthy life helping poor people and feeding birds and stray animals. During the rainy season the muddy road used to be quite slippery and it was difficult for the small school children to pass by. Both the husband and the wife used to stand there to help them to cross the road. They never thought of their own comfort at all. The locals used to call the lady as Mother Teresa and saint to the man.

One day the husband died due to a heart attack and the old lady left behind alone. Her only daughter brought her to another city near her so that she could take care of her. Time passed happily but fate has something else written in. The son-in-law died due to liver failure. Now both of them the daughter and the old lady along with her two granddaughters lived together in the same house. Time passed and the old lady grew older and one day met with an accident. She was operated and the daughter took great care of her. Now she could hardly walk around. She was sad but somehow wanted to live more. After two years she was admitted to a nearby hospital due to some ailment. There she passed away after five day’s treatment at the age of seventy-four. She was cremated by her daughter.

Nearly after ten days, the daughter shifted to a new house nearby to get away with the past memories of her mother. But past revived and she started feeling as if her mother is around. This was felt even by her own daughters also. They could feel the sound of feet and breathing sounds. They got scared. But they carry on with their work. One day the daughter of the old lady rescued a two days old kitten and brought her home. She asked her elder daughter to take care of it. Some of her friends advised her to get rid of the kitten as it is considered as a bad omen. But the mother insisted on keeping it. That very night the mother and the elder daughter had the same dream that the old lady was telling them that she wants to live with them and they should not get scared as it is her own mother in the form of a kitten. After that incident both never had a scary feeling. They loved to play with the kitten. Every year they used to celebrate the birthday of the cat in the month of August. The full-grown cat looked very beautiful. Who so ever saw her, got mesmerized and clicked her.

As the cat grew, the lady started noticing the behavior of the cat quite closely. She was amazed and shocked to see that the cat was eating all those things which were favorites of her mother. She had never seen a cat eating mango, momos, pizza and even during prayer time she used to come near the house temple and sit quietly from an hour or so. She used to get angry whenever the watchman's kids used to come to our house. Even the old lady never used to allow them to come to our house when she was alive.

The cat used to understand whatever we used to tell her to do. She liked the grandson very much and even she used to make some sound like the old lady used to call him. Today she is seven years old but she is still behaving like the old lady. It seems as if the past revived.