By Mathew John
She had been starving for four days.
Crying loudly because she was trapped.
In between the Metro viaduct and the thirty metre tall pillar.
The pavement peddlers alerted the police.
The animal lovers racked their brains
To organise a non - governmental rescue.
The Metro team called Fire and Rescue.
They came, saw, and went back
Only to return with better stuff.
Bigger nets and yes, a crane.
People waited, holding a big safety net
In case she panicked and jumped.
Traffic was stopped.
They were thinking of stopping the metro trains, too.
The officers laboured on for two hours.
She was rescued.
Someone among the onlookers fed her.
Laddus were distributed to the rescue team
By a retired High Court Judge.
She was hospitalised.
She is doing fine now.
They named her Mickey.
Even Walt Disney would have been impressed.
Mickey Cat, in place of Mickey Mouse.
Then they wrote -
Every life matters.
It fills me up with utter, undiluted joy.
It gives me -
Hope against cold logic,
A defiant pride,
Rain on a parched land.
In a country filled with protests,
Where debates never end,
Where power is the new virtue,
Where a third of the world's hungry live,
There is, still, magic
In the minds of tired men.
Notes
1. Poem inspired by the real life rescue of a cat by Kochi Metro Rail Corporation (KMRL), Kerala, India in January 2020.