Pow is a naadan cat, but to us, she is the most beautiful creature on earth

When Devan and Ardra Balachandran were dating, they bonded over food, cinema and travel, their common interests. Or so they thought. Both of them liked animals but little did they know their would-be pet ‘Pow’ would be the strongest glue for their marriage. “We realised it only later. Even in the midst of the most bitter of our fights, when Pow comes into our conversation, both of us would melt,” says Ardra.
There is an interesting story behind how Pow, a chubby tabby now, entered their lives.“We had decided that we would adopt a cat after we got married and were on the lookout for a kitten,” recalls Devan. “I wanted a cat with a fluffy tail while Ardra wanted a black and white one, so I put up a post on facebook saying we are looking for a black and white cat with a fluffy tail.” Finally, someone responded. He had kittens at his home in Manjummel and he said that one was golden with blue eyes and a fluffy tail, and the other black and white. The couple started out the same evening, but on reaching there, they got a shock. “The only kitten left in the litter was a thin, grey, malnourished looking one. The other two had been adopted ten minutes earlier, or so he claimed,” says Devan.
At first, they decided to leave the scruffy kitten and go home. But then the man said, “You don’t have to take it. No one wants it.” That melted both their hearts and solely on the basis of sympathy, they took the little tabby home. All the way home in the car and at their home, the kitten kept crying. “All night too she cried and finally we decided she must be missing her mother and decided to take her back the next day,” says Devan.
But then, something unexpected happened. When they woke up the next morning, there was the tiny kitten, curled up on their bed between their feet, sleeping peacefully. “We don’t even know how she managed to climb up into the bed. But we knew then that she was ours. Even today, nearly five years later, she sleeps in the exact same position.”
There was no looking back since for ‘Pow Prabha AJ’ aka Pow who became the love of their lives, and is now spoilt to the core. And both Devan and Ardra find her the most beautiful cat in the world today. “She has actually grown into a beautiful cat. People can’t believe she is a naadan when they see her,” says Ardra, while Devan says he doesn’t find the most beautiful cats of the world half as pretty as Pow.

There’s also something amazing about Pow, Ardra says, which is that whenever she is extremely upset about something, she quietly comes and settles down on her chest, providing company until she is fine. “It has happened about seven times in the past five years. I don’t know how she knows, as I might not even be crying.”
The couple have another cat now, a ginger cat named ‘Mahi Mani’. But Pow, who was used to their undivided attention for nearly five years hasn’t taken well to the new member, and so they are trying to get both to adjust to each other.

Meanwhile, they have an answer to a question which is constantly thrown at them. “No way are we having children if we have to let our cats go. We don’t believe in this nonsense notion that human children have to be brought up in an insulated environment. They have to grow up with all organisms, cat, dog, bacteria, whatever. Pow and Mahi will be with us, come what may,” Ardra signs off.