When I heard about a book titled the Dalai Lama’s Cat I was most intrigued. I am quite fascinated by the gentle and unassuming looking Buddhist leader who inspires the world with his calm teachings. So a book where the cat narrates his life with the Dalai Lama made for a very interesting premise indeed.
Title: The Dalai Lama’s Cat
Author: David Michie
Genre: Fiction
Publication: Hayhouse
Born and brought up in Africa, David Michie is quite a successful author of books on meditations, mindfulness and Buddhism. He came up with a series of books on the Dalai Lama’s cat that is a delightfully funny read with quite a sprinkle of life lessons in the subtle humour. His books are available in 26 languages and he is widely read in more than 40 countries.
Synopsis:
On one of his visits to New Delhi, The Dalai Lama happened to see two boys dumping a small malnourished kitten into the dustbin. He quickly sent his attendant to rescue the slum feline which he then took with him to Macleodganj where he resides.
The wretched kitten soon fledged out into a healthy feline with all the love and good food showered onto it. As it sets out to explore her new surroundings, she is made aware of her special status by the people she encounters. Everywhere she goes, she is fawned upon and given saucers of milk, rich food and preferred spot in the sun to snooze.
Mousie –Tung is the name she is dubbed with while the Dalai Lama fondly calls her the little snow lion. She is also bestowed with the lofty title of His Holiness’s Cat or the HHC.
It is but inevitable that all of this attention goes to her head and she starts to bask in it. Slowly she realises that her importance is not due to her being but because she belongs to the Dalai Lama who is revered by the common man and the rich alike, everywhere in the world. She starts to absorb the teachings of His Holiness simply by being in his proximity and learns to adore him for it too.
She goes as far as to dub herself the Bodhicattava –In Buddhism, Bodhisattava is a person who has attained enlightenment.
Lasting Impression on me:
The premise of this book is absolutely adorable. The entire tale is narrated in the cat voice and its incredible how the author has managed to convey the feline emotions so realistically. The book is sprinkled with a liberal dose of spiritual lessons; of course these are dispensed by our feline heroine who is unfazed to rub herself against dignitaries and film stars alike. I quite liked how the author imbued so much zest into reflective thoughts and made it such a fun read.
My Rating:
This book gave me quite a reflective pause and I recommend it to those looking to ignite the same in their minds. My rating is a resounding 5 *****.
* This post contains affiliate links and if you click to buy from here, I will earn some referral fee amount *
Are you tempted by the premise of this book? Would you be interested in reading about the Dalai Lama from the eyes of a cat?
P.S:
I am on a no-book-buying pact as I am pretty much broke; not to mention that I am running out of space as well!! But in case anyone wants to trade their books or send me gifts, please do check out my Wishlist on Amazon & Want to read on Goodreads.
Coming up tomorrow [E] The forty rules of love by Elif Shafak
For the uninitiated, AtoZ challenge is a blogging challenge wherein one has to write on every alphabet from A to Z and post on all days of April, except Sundays. Usually it’s better to devise a theme as it makes it easy to write the posts. Plus readers have a reason to stay hooked too.
The A to Z Challenge is created by Arlee Bird of Tossing it Out
and co-hosted by
Alex J. Cavanaugh of Alex J. Cavanaugh
Jeremy Hawkins of Hollywood Nuts
Heather M. Gardner of The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Zalka Csenge Virág of The Multicolored Diary
John Holton of The Sound of One Hand Typing
J Lenni Dorner of Blog of J. Lenni Dorner
Some of my previous posts you might be interested in catching up on
Hari OM
Am familiar with David Michie’s writing – but had no idea about this one… will look it up! YAM xx
What an interesting book title. THough I havent heard of this author, or the book. THe title is just not sugestive of the fictional nature of it, made me think it is a spiritual one. Interesting!!
Oh you will ove it I am sure of it for this book digs into the feline mindset so beautifully that it made me wonder if the cat wrote the book 😉
As a cat owner and a buddhist, I am the recipient of all cat themed and Buddhist themed items my family finds in the course of their browsing in shops and online. I’ve read this book and enjoyed it thoroughly. Great D post.
http://www.kalpanaawrites.com
Interesting book title. Your review made me to be curious in getting one. thanks for sharing this.
The name of book does not give away that its fictional and on the other hand the cover image is damn gorgeous and even scary to an extent. Amazed at your choice of picking good quality books, Shalini!
I have read rave reviews about this book and this is going straight in my TBR list. Thanks for the recommendation, Shalini.
5 Reasons to Keep a Travel Diary #AtoZChallenge
Not heard of this but I do like the sound of it. As long as the cat doesn’t die in the end, I may buy it! (Cat lover who can’t cope with dead cat stories.) Good post.
Wow. The title itself is so interesting. I am considering buying many titles from this series. (Next book hurl.)Especially looking forward to tomorrow’s post.
This is a gorgeous book! I bought it a few years ago and absolutely enjoyed it. David Michie’s writing style is humorous with wonderful messages=the perfect combination!
Oh this one seems like such a sweet read and with a great message too. Must remember to pick it up.
This sounds like my kind of book! I love cats and buddhism:)
What an adorable story. I’m definitely going to pick this. You know why, especially because of the furball perspective 🙂
I am tempted to read this one majorly because its in cat voice. I feel it’s be interesting. Also it piques my interest due to my impending visit to Mcleodganj this weekend 😉
Sounds charming. I’ll certainly be adding it to my list.
The story looks promising and adorable with a beautiful message in it. I am loving your recommendations and putting them in my to read list. 🙂
I’ve never heard of this book until now, but the story sounds so adorable. This goes on to my TBR as well.
Looks like a humorous one- i am a great fan of Dalai-lama and never heard the story of the cat… thanks for sharing:)
I hope you do get to read it as it’s a superbly humorous yet deep tale about the life with His Holiness.
interesting story telling
Yes it sure is! Thanks for stopping by!