Storytelling and Drama with Cats (and of course a Teacher)
Every Saturday, I go to Usha akka’s (akka means elder sister in Tamil. In RASA, we call teachers as akka or anna) home. I started learning story telling from Usha akka online in 2020. Usha akka is a senior facilitator for RASA India. I would see the cats walking by while I did the lesson.
When I went for her lesson in 2022 in her house, I was excited. I love cats and dogs. I was looking forward to meeting some cats. As soon as I entered the home, I saw two black and white cats sitting on the table. Ms Usha told me that Nila and Freddy are her daughter’s cats. She showed me two orange cats perched on top of the cabinets. I tried petting Nila and Freddy. I then went to the kitchen and waited for Bheem and Simba to come. However, Usha akka told me that Bheem and Simbha do not warm up to anybody including Usha mam’s own daughter.
In the meantime, I had forgotten about the drama lesson. Usha akka put the two cats in the room and started the lesson. Every Saturday, when I go to her house, I try playing with the cats, but Usha akka does not let me play with them till I finish my lesson. The face to face lessons are fun because I can also play with cats.
Now, Usha akka also has a dog named Tara, but I only play with Freddy and Nila.
Playing with cats in London
While I was in Weston, I would only play with dogs, but after I started visiting my brother, I started playing with cats. My brother has two cats. Their names are Nannok and Jaggery. Nanook and Jaggery are very different. Nanook just hides under the bed when she sees strangers. On the other hand, Jaggery who is an Arabian Mau is a frisky cat. She is very friendly, playful, and curious. She likes to play a lot, but does not like to be petted much. I learned about cats by playing with Nanook and Jaggery, but now I can play with Freddy and Nila when I go for class.
A note on my class: I learn drama and storytelling. Usha akka has told me many stories such as Prahalada, Ganesha, and Ganesha and Muruga circling the world. She helped me prepare for my role as Rama in RASA day 2022. She also helps me prepare for other presentations. She helped me prepare for today’s presentation. I look forward to seeing everybody at the webinar in the evening.
Author-Ananth Raghunandan
Creative representation of my blog depicting a boy(that’s me) the 2 cats Nila and Freddy and my teacher Usha akka is done by an amazing little artist Vinayak Raj.
Thank you my friend!
2 replies on “Cats are my Purrfect companion”
I have not been very fond of cats but after reading your blog I also feel like playing with them 🙂 very well depicted in the picture great work Vinayak you captured all elements of the blog.
[…] was also completed on December 2, 2022 was a blog post for SpecialSaathi. Read Ananth’s blog here. Thanks to Vinayak Raj for his creative representation on Ananth learning storytelling and drama […]