Minty is a brown and white cat-large for a stray, extremely affectionate and has the most raucous meow you can imagine.

I first saw her in an apartment complex very near mine. She was loudly protesting the fact that she was being driven away from a small shed she had made her home. Her loud, unladylike cries drew me to my window, where I saw a group of painters wielding brooms to drive this poor animal out of “her shed” since they had been commissioned to paint it. Wise animal that she was, Minty left her home to the painters, and moved next door. This was the beginning of good things to come for her.

My next encounter with this remarkable cat was literally in a drain. She had given birth to five lovely little kittens and all of them were living in a disused drain in my apartment complex.  There were two ladies who were already feeding Minty and taking care of her. I joined them in this endeavour, and between the three of us, we ensured that she and her 5 kittens were well fed.

Once the kittens were grown up and able to fend for themselves one of the “Minty trio”, as we were now called, found homes for the little ones on a farm, while two of us took Minty to the Vet to have her inoculated and sterilized.

She continued to live in the car park of our building, and resisted all our efforts to lure her into one of our flats-probably because we lived on higher floors and she was unsure of her way to and from our homes. So then started a daily routine-one of us would go down to the car park every morning, and holler our heads off, until the cat appeared, when we would feed her.

One morning, my friend Rupa, went down with Minty’s breakfast, and called her as usual. The cat came to her, and affectionately greeted her. However, she did not seem interested in eating her breakfast…she seemed eager to lead Rupa somewhere. Rupa indulged the cat, and followed her. Minty went a short distance, and then stopped in front of the door to a flat in the ground floor. She seemed to be urging Rupa to get the door opened. Rupa again indulged her, and rang the bell to the flat.

Rupa & Minty

As soon as the door opened, Minty walked in, as if she owned the place, and settled herself on the sofa. The lady who opened the door thanked Rupa for bringing their cat Minnu home.

Apparently, she had walked into their flat a couple of weeks ago, and made herself completely at home. Being cat lovers, they welcomed her in, and did everything possible to make her comfortable-fresh food at all times, a bed and a sofa to choose from when she is tired, and most importantly the love of a family.

Despite her good fortune, Minty had not forgotten Rupa, and her kindness in her time of need. She couldn’t talk, but she certainly very effectively communicated the fact that she now had a home and was well taken care of, and that Rupa was not to bother feeding her anymore. The remarkable power of cat love and intelligence!

Sunitha Srinivasan