Once upon a time, in the mysterious land of the sadhus and elephants and rope tricks also known as India, there lived a sadhu in his ashram. He, together with his disciples used to perform a 'puja' everyday, which involved the offering of milk and fruits and sweets to the deity. A poor cat, pulled by the sweet and tempting aroma of the food and forced by the rumblings of an empty stomach, used to sneak in the ashram and gorge on the offering.Until, that is, it was shooed away by an angry sadhu and his disciples. Finally, one day, fed up with the disturbance caused by a mere mortal creature in his dealings with the almighty, the sadhu ordered the disciples to find the cat and ensure that it's tied up to a tree in the ashram while the 'puja' was in progress. The disciples obeyed. Every day, just before the puja, someone would search for the cat, bust its hiding place and tie the frightened animal to a tree. Then there would be no disturbances in the great sadhu's dealings with the deity.
Thus was born one of the great Indian traditions!
Even to this day, just before the puja is to be performed, a cat is searched for and tied to a tree near the house.
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