TODAY is May 4. Just a normal Saturday, but to fans of a galaxy far, far away, today is Star Wars Day. With the local chapter celebrating it at Jaya One's The Square, I found it interesting that their theme this year is "Meow The Force".
To highlight the triumph of good over evil, just like in the movies, the organisers combined celebrating Star Wars Day with a cat adoption drive, in a bid to showcase the importance of helping those who can't help themselves, in this case, domestic pets.
As an ardent Star Wars fan, this theme is very close to me not only because of my love for the movie franchise.
While I have no children, my household is made up of 13 individuals, including my husband and I.
The other 11 are felines, a reflection of my love for Star Wars and my passion for the "Adopt, Don't Shop" campaign.
I call them "Star Wars Furballs" because most of them are named after characters from the movie, and they do live up to their names, embodying the behaviour and spirit of these beloved characters.
My Obiwan Kenobi is a majestic, regal furry Jedi who prefers to be alone but is not opposed to the occasional rubs and kisses.
My Luke Skywalker is a loner, my Princess Leia behaves like a blue blood who does as she pleases and does not take kindly to instructions. My Darth Vader is a female cat who lurks between the Dark and the Light side. My Rey is an angry scavenger but comes in for a nuzzle when she feels like it. My Chewbacca, apart from sharing the same colour as her namesake, is strong and independent and my Jar Jar Binks is a bumbling little clown.
The other four do not have Star Wars related names but very much belong to the Galaxy.
One thing they all have in common is that none of them were purchased. We don't buy human babies, do we? For that same reason, we should not engage in or encourage the buying and selling of cats, or dogs.
While my love for Star Wars started long before I had pets, the combination of the two at the Star Wars Day celebration today brings joy to my heart.
Celebrating Star Wars and by extension, George Lucas who brought this far away galaxy close to us, while highlighting the importance of helping animals is a noble deed, something Yoda would approve, I'm sure.
My story with cats started the day Darth Vader started hanging around our house and decided it was a good place to set up base. Coruscant we were not, but it was good enough.
One fine day, we discovered that Vader was pregnant, and not long after that, out popped Princess Leia, Obiwan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.
By then, my husband and I knew we were in for the long haul and immediately took Vader to the vet, to ensure she would stop popping anymore baby Jedis.
With Princess Leia, we were a bit late and Her Majesty got herself knocked up, probably by a stray smuggler from Tatooine, leading to the birth of Rey, Chewbacca, Jar Jar Binks, Bugsy Siegel and Falkor, all female.
Now at 9 cats in our household, we took Princess Leia to get spayed.
As fate would have it, we chanced upon two stray kittens later on; Alley Beans and Zorro, and 9 became 11.
They are now masters of our household, with my husband and I merely the captured Stormtroopers in their Rebel Alliance. The truth? We wouldn't have it any other way.
Each one has their unique personality and sometimes they drive us up the wall, but we do not regret rescuing them and giving them a home.
Allowing them to adopt us opened my eyes to the plight of so many strays on the street, which before this I hardly thought about.
Today when I see a stray, my heart breaks a little bit and whenever I can, I try to at least give them a meal.
For the Star Wars celebration today to also incorporate a cat adoption drive is something to be applauded as they are doing their bit to encourage people to adopt.
Adoption is a far better option as compared to buying expensive breeds because it is difficult to control the population of strays. These kittens come into the world not knowing where their next meal would come from,
which is a strong enough reason for us to spread the message that adoption is the way to go.
So if you are thinking of getting a pet, choose to adopt and Meow the Force Be With You.
