Where to learn the tactile language of cats in Mumbai.
Meet Manoj Sharma, the man who can communicate with cats. He could write a book on the subject and cats in general. If you talk with him long enough, he can teach you a lot about the little know habits of cats. If you are a cat owner, you can spend hours with him discussing cats with him and never tire Since I am not a cat owner, we discussed why there are more cats in that tip of Mumbai than dogs, he can give you the reasons. For example, Navi Mumbai has more dogs than cats.
The cat man of Walkeshwar, Manoj Sharma, with roots in Mathura and a lifetime in Mumbai, is single and has no immediate family members of his own in Mumbai (He has a large extended family, including his sister and her family in Davanagere in Karnataka). Everyday, he feeds about 60-70 cats in Walkeshwar. As all cat owners will know, cats have a body clock that has atomic clock precision when it comes to food, which is why he is always around in Walkeshwar, feeding his cats.
When me and my friend Hari bumped into him in the Walkeshwar BEST canteen, which is run by his friend, he was sitting with this cat. We talked for a long time about cats and politics but he was having his own parallel tactile talk with the cat in this photograph. If you happen to meet him, look at his hands communicating with a cat and the more importantly, how the cat is touching, biting, and playing with him.
