BRIJINDER NATH'S BOOK OF ARTFUL CATS

The venerable art historian B.N. Goswamy's last work, The Indian Cat explores the depiction of cats in Indian culture

THE INDIAN CAT Stories, Paintings, Poetry & Proverbs
By B.N. Goswamy
ALEPH

The distinguished art historian B.N. Goswamy, sadly and recently deceased, has produced a delightful tribute to the feline tribe. Whatever the reader may feel about these small furry entities, this book will provide insights, revelations, wisdom, and much gentle wit.

A chapter of general observations is followed by one section each on stories, on colour reproductions of paintings, on poems, and finally proverbs. The India-specific focus is what makes the collection unique. Despite copious anecdotes in Indian folk tales, the author tells us that cats have never been the subject of any traditional or historical texts.

GOSWAMY OBSERVES THAT THE READER IS OFTEN INVITED TO "TAKE SOMETHING FROM EACH STORY...A MORAL, AN ADVICE, ANOTHER LOOK AT THE WORLD AROUND OURSELVES"

Mice and monkeys, elephants, snakes, cows, lions, and many other creatures are featured prominently alongside humans in the vast pantheon of Indian culture, in paintings, sculptures, and bas-reliefs. Most of these have extremely well-established characters, so much so that their personalities are routinely transposed to human beings. By contrast, says the author, the cat "emerges as...an embodiment of perfidy...clever, scheming, manipulative, even thieving". He goes on to observe that the reader is often invited "to take something from each story involving a cat: a moral, an advice, another look at the world around ourselves".