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Family Pic: Daddy Loaf, Mummy Loaf, Baby Loaf,
little Nimki. Clicked by Gia with Erika bringing Loaf into the frame

 

 

 

Runaway bride, yes, but who runs away before his birthday party?

Yes, you’ve guessed right. Baby Loaf, our elder son and our first cat. His birthday (based on complicated guesswork on my part) is on 8th March. He turned 4 this year.

He became an inside cat with us. from being an inside-outside cat, when he was close to a year old. Having led a life outside till then, he could not understand why he could not go out. There is a time in every parent’s life when they utter the words their parents did and which they had resolved not to use when they became parents.

This is for your own good.”

“That’s right,” said Loaf as he ran out for the nth time. This time in the rain when my brother and sister-in-law were visiting us. A search party went to find him. Loaf was spotted below a car parked in our compound and refused to budge. We called off the search and returned home drenched. Later our neighbour Erika, whom we refer to as his Erika mummy, managed to coax him out. Erika was the one who first spotted Loaf in our compound 3.5 years back. Coincidentally it was monsoon then as well. Erika dried him with a towel and looked after him and fed him initially and since then, the two have had a nearly sacred bond.

Loaf with Erika Mummy and Big Sister Gee Gee

Loaf has stopped running to the door every time it is opened these days. The exception is when Erika comes. He runs to the door and almost stands up and leans against it while he impatiently waits for us to open the door.

From my insta. Ignore
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This has lulled us, or at least me, into a false sense of security. The optimist in me likes to think that he finally that our house is home. The pessimist in me thinks that he is growing old. And that’s something that I cannot reconcile.

It was his birthday on the 8th but I had a bad tummy and the cats’ Big Sister Gee Gee (Erika’s daughter Gia) had gone to a concert. With just 50 per cent of the guest list (Erika) being there, we re-scheduled the party for Sunday night.

Little Nimki waits anxiously for Baby Loaf dada

Baby Loaf’s younger brother, little Nimki and I had a deep discussion on the menu. On past birthdays of the Dynamic Duo, we had organised Bengali, Parsi, Chinese, and assorted high tea box meals. We wanted to do something different this time and zeroed in on Lebanese. We called in for falafel, lamb and chicken shwarmas and a stuffed minced meat naan called arayes. The food was pretty nice, well flavoured and light and a change from our usual dinner orders. Everything came in compartmentalised plastic trays along with dips, pickles and chips which made it easy to clean up later.

Arbab Falafel

 

Arbab lamb shwarma

 

Arabab Arayes

 

Loaf’s Erika Mummy brought over the nicest version that I have had of what is called pan rolls here and pantheras in Kolkata. Portuguese-influenced minced meat rolls with an egg and bread batter coating. Erika had made these herself and they were the juiciest, most flavourful and most generous of the pan rolls that I’ve ever had.

Pan roll by Erika

 

Pan roll by Erika

For dessert K called in for dark chocolate sea salt brownies from the Chubby Baker whom she found on Swiggy. The brownies were very well-balanced in taste, gooey and satisfactorily dark.

Brownies from The Chubby Baker

Oh, and the great escape? K opened the door for the trash just before the party and Baby Loaf dashed out. Just as his dad had many years back in Kolkata when he learnt that there was cauliflower and no nonveg cooked on his birthday.

Baby Loaf: The rebel without a cause

While all went down to look for him, it was finally Erika mummy who saved the day and brought back the truant birthday boy while his brother, little Nimki waited anxiously for him!

Appendix: I don’t know how he knew that I was writing about him but Baby Loaf jumped down from his hideout above the cupboard right now to check what I wrote about him. More specifically, about my gifting a hug toilet (covered litter box) on his birthday!

 

 

 

 

 

Little Nimki does a Ranveer Singh sort of jig on his brother’s birthday

 

Little Nimki shows off his brother’s birthday gift:

 

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