the cat…myth and reality…

are you familiar with the Javanese belief (at least the Javanese, that is the only thing i can state, maybe other cultures also believe in it, too…) that if your vehicle hits a cat, especially kills it, then you and your vehicle is doomed for bad luck? If you ARE familiar with this, let´s talk about something a little bit more "extreme"..

 

our "cute" Acehnese driver has a profound belief on cats and bad luck.  profound…i mean…profound…strong,deeply rooted and has never failed to come to surface whenever the opportunity permits…and somehow, he is living, and driving, in a wrong place, if he has this dread of cats. hm, maybe i was not being accurate when i said that he has this dread of cats…that´s so not true…what he hates, and fears, is the way they stroll calmly and gracefully right in front of car, since somehow, there are lotz and lotz of cats in Banda Aceh. i don´t know why, maybe because there is a lot of left-over fish that they could feed themselves with, good city for cat breeding ground, or i don´t know…but all these cute, plump cats and kittens seem to be everywhere…

each and every time a cat happens to stroll gracefully across the path in front of our car, he would hit the steering wheel and curse under his breath.  the first five times when it happened, i stopped and asked him why. and he went into lengthy explanation that what i was about to hear was not a myth, it is a proven formula for failure and disappointment…TO HAVE A CAT CROSSING YOUR PATH ON THE WAY SOMEWHERE…

 

whenever it happens, he would say "Sh*t, i will not meet the person i want to meet today, so will you…" Hah? since he drives me to work in the morning, that is not exactly the prophecy i would like to hear at the beginning of my day. and sometimes he would even relate to some stories he told me earlier during the week, like for example, "Do you remember when i told you about this girl (blind date - note) two days ago? that i planned to see and did not manage to see? well, as i drove out, there was a cat crossing my path…see, it is proven. it is not a myth…"

 

i was just sitting there, calmly holding my smile back because i didn´t want to offend him.  for the first FIVE times. after that, i started smilling, and now, i simply burst into giggle or laughter…no offense meant, it is just amazing for me to see, that EACH and EVERY time it happens, he always reacts the same way. never for once he failed to react with such agitation. always this low S word, and the omen following it.

but…but…wait a moment, still according to him, the nice "Abang" who is actually younger than me…, that if two cats cross your path, then the bad luck is undone.  cool hmm? you know, there is always remedy for "almost" anything, including the bad-luck-carrier-cat…

i thought it would stop at that. no…no…no…

one day, driving out of the office compound, i saw a cat two meters ahead was getting ready to cross our path from our left side to our right side. i kept my smile checked, waiting for that usual swear and thump, and the familiar routine. oh yes, the S word, oh yes, he hit the steering wheel…but then, "Hm, i forgot what it really means. if a cat crosses our path from the left side to the right side, is it good luck or bad luck? or is it the other way around…?hmmmm…i just can´t remember it…"

WHAT?? not only the omen could be undone, the direction could actually revert the meaning of the omen…?? oh gosh, this ancient wisdom is simply too much to bear…

no offense. but i hope you understand why i think my brain is too small to accomodate such knowledge. and knowing that i don´t have ,yet, enough "knowledge" about these things…i will wait and see on more lessons that i can learn from sharing the car with our driver…

"oh Mak, kucing!!"  

Banda Aceh, June 29, 2007