Gift of Thembi

(First written Circa 2005)

Thembi is the name of a cat. My cat? Can I say and believe that this pretty, agile creature belongs to me? That thinking, feeling, playful, angry, loving creature?

I did not use to be a pet person. Thembi came into my life unbidden. A friend once said that he knew of a very young cat who needed a home and asked if I would like to get to know him. Now, many friends in the past had asked the same question, but I had very resolutely said ‘no’. This time my resolution waivered – something inside of me said ‘go for it!’ And I did. The cat arrived at my house in a cardboard box. He was terrified. But, oh, what a beautiful, black, soft, and shiny creature! I touched him gently, cautiously. I had never really touched an animal before. Many days passed, and we still did not get properly acquainted with each other. Slowly, Thembi started claiming his territory, which of course included me. If anything moved in the house, he went after it. For weeks, I was not allowed to move my limbs, for if I did Thembi jumped and bit them. I remember I had to sit on the couch with my legs folded under me. If they were hanging, every slight movement attracted Thembi’s attention and hence came an attack. This was the beginning of our relationship - the cat terrorized me and controlled my life. He still does, but in different ways!

Have you ever looked at an animal closely? Have you tried to become them or feel like them? Have you wondered what they are thinking when they look at you with soulful eyes? I have found that you can descend into their bodies by looking deeply into their eyes. They have such transparent, pure, untrained, and unclever expressions. Thembi has exceptionally large and round eyes. They fill his face when he looks at you. His eye color changes with the light – it is green in bright light, but they turn very dark, almost black, at night. The contours of his face and the sleekness of his body are so perfect that I have often asked him: Thembi, who made you? Where were you perfected? How long – how many eons- did it take to get you in the form you are in today? Of course, the answer to the first question is – he is a product of Nature, as are we! He was perfected in the only laboratory that we know of: Earth. Planet Earth is Nature’s vast laboratory. Believe it or not, we humans were coined in the same workshop through the relentless workings of nature. Hence we are very closely related to all other forms of life, including all animals, all plants, and even all microorganisms. Not only are we related, but for our survival we depend on them as well.

Being a biologist, I have known these facts for many years, but this deep realization came to me due to this opportunity to observe Thembi closely. This instilled in me a feeling for life and an appreciation unmatched in its intensity by all the biology textbooks I had read over the last 20 years of my life. I must say, however, that my training in biology had prepared me to experience an inner revolution of the mind. Once the realization of the unity and oneness of life came into my mind, various pieces of information fell into place easily. Being a biologist definitely helped, but not all biologists have the desire or the willingness to think about living beings deeply. Thembi has taught me much about life, and he has taught me about love.

All this knowing does not lessen the value of human life in any way. We are still very special, the only difference in our new, changed, perception is that they are equally special, and with this realization when we look at them it’s with reverence and when we touch them it’s with gentleness. We depend on all other life for our survival; however, they depend on us to protect them from the harm that we humans are capable of doing. Due to our big brains, we desire to become masters of the planet, but we cannot conquer nature. We are a product of it and came through it as did every other big or small form of life.

I remember having been told, when I was in high school, that the one goal for mankind was to conquer nature. I think it meant – harness the powers of Nature for the good of man. Unfortunately, it has translated into destruction of Nature – cutting down forests, diverting rivers, and so much more. It has become a battle – only this time it is against Nature, our very own selves. Human beings like to fight, put up battles. But trying to conquer Nature is like cutting the same branch of a tree on which we are sitting.

To earn the confidence and trust of an animal is for me the biggest happiness. We are animals too, but we have become so refined and so sophisticated that we almost never remember that we are. Our refinement and sophistication prevents us from ever feeling closeness with nature or ever truly getting involved with life. We are almost always just skimming the surface.

Thembi’s lessons in love have been many for me. From him I have learned to touch, to hold, and to communicate without words. Every day when I come home in the evening, I find him at the door. As I enter, he immediately runs to a particular spot and rolls over, which is an invitation to rub his head, his tummy, and to hold his paws (the only time I can really get close to his clawed paws) in my hands. This ritual lasts for a few minutes until he feels satisfied. Then he goes off and quickly scratches his post, following which he runs around excitedly for a while longer. All of this is a way of saying, “oh, I am so happy to welcome you home!”. I have noticed that if I come home earlier than expected, he is usually upstairs sleeping. I call out for him, “Thembi, Thembi!”. He wakes up, and then I hear him running to the staircase and then quickly down the stairs, all the while making very affectionate sounds with his throat, “oooh…oooh…”, as if to say, “oh my dear, you are home! I had no idea that you were coming early today! And then he rolls over to be petted as usual. Thembi has taught me what love really means. He instinctively knows about the warmth of touch. At night he jumps up on my bed, walks around looking for the best spot, and then usually curls up on top of my feet or right next to me against the pillow.

Thembi does not like strangers, especially if they are loud. When, sometimes, people come home to deliver furniture or to do some repair work, he finds a place to hide. Recently, two big men came to deliver something. I noticed confusion in Thembi’s face. He was sitting in a corner, wondering in which direction to run, almost shivering. At that moment, I beckoned to him, saying, “Thembi, come here”, and started walking towards the kitchen. He followed me! I was trying to help him hide, so I opened a cupboard in the kitchen and said, “go, go, in there!”. And Thembi actually trusted me! He took my direction when he was under stress and went into the cupboard. I closed the door, and he stayed there for a couple of hours until the men left. Under normal circumstances, I can never make Thembi go into a cupboard on demand or request. By nature, cats are so independent that they don’t take direction. This incident told me of the depth of our relationship and Thembi’s trust in me!