I first met Raju on the 6th November 1998. We were grieving as a family for a lovely cat that had become incurably ill and been put to sleep a couple of weeks before in October and I had resolved to find a little cat or kitten to which I could give a loving home. My prayers were answered when I read the local paper that afternoon and found an article about a beautiful little black cat/kitten that had been found deserted wandering on the M74 motorway- which is the main road up to Glasgow from England. He had been given temporary shelter at the Peebles & Biggar Cats' Protection Society's kennels nearby and was being advertised as in need of a home.

Graham and I went that evening when it was almost dark to see him and the other kittens that were also in need of good homes. Some were fluffy and tiny and instantly appealing but there was this lovely sleek little cat, still a kitten of five months approximately; he looked at me with his wide green eyes and I talked to him and lifted him up and he snuggled into my shoulder. Graham and I decided that Raju, who as yet was not called by that name, was what we wanted and we loved and talked to him and arranged to return the following day to fill in the paper work and collect him.

His name as given by his rescuers was 'Pyewacket!' apparently it is a name for a witch's cat as he had been rescued on Halloween. I disliked it immensely and thought of something suitable; I was nostalgic for India where I had been recently and decided on Raju - a sort of diminutive of 'little prince' - though I do know females with the same name in India.

Raju has been a constant joy to us and is such an affectionate faithful little animal; he comes when he is called and plays wonderful games of hide and seek. The latter I taught him in the first eight weeks of his life with us. Graham who is a vet advised that he should be kept indoors for that length of time just in case he roamed and became lost again. To keep him amused I played with cats' toys and plastic balls and also to bond with him and to give him exercise. To this day he loves these games and often instigates them himself! We also keep him in during the night to protect him (and we had given that undertaking to the Cats' Protection charity). He has a chip in his neck were he to be lost and found and taken to a vet he could be traced to us.

Raju hates it when I go away, especially to India because it means that I am gone for quite some time; on my return he won't let me out of his sight and tries to sleep on my head at night. He has lots of engaging habits and follows us round the garden when we are busy gardening, but on other occasions he curls up in the long grass of the wild garden and sleeps in his green 'boudoir'. He loves our grandsons who adore him in return.

Dmitry Guskov is a talented painter of wildlife and domestic animals and I invited him to paint Raju; engagingly the little cat rolled around and showed Dmitry how he loves to frolic amongst the daffodils and so we now have this lovely painting of Raju looking out at us with his steady gaze - his eyes the colour of the green around him, and the tiny line of white hair on his chest! Raju came into my life at exactly the time I started writing my first book on India and often curls up on my desk or on my lap whilst I write and I have mentioned him in all three of my books. Dmitry's own website showing his paintings can be found below.

www.artforest.co.uk

June 2006