Purr and Pet

CHARU AND MRIIDU KHOSLA, 32 AND 35, JASON MOSS, 34 OF CAT CAFÉ STUDIO

No flash lights, no loud noises and no waking up sleeping cats—these are some of the rules at the Cat Café Studio where numerous cats— all rescued from the streets of Mumbai—are the mainstay. Sisters Charu and Mriidu Khosla, and partner Jason Moss, who run a creative agency together, extended their cat rescue activities by setting up this café in 2015. “We started bringing cats into our homes and our office and still were short on space. So we decided to set up this café where the cats could stay until they find a home,” says Charu. In the eight years since they brought in their first cat in 2010, the trio has rescued 800 cats and found homes for more than 500 of them. They visited cat cafes around the world before setting up their own in Versova which serves bagels, sandwiches and homemade desserts. The earnings from the café are spent on medical aid and food for the cats. “We have had cats with maggot wounds, injuries and malignancies and in the last year and had to do four amputations. We need money for them so we set up India’s first cat café,” says Charu. FELINE CARE Besides caring for cats, the Khosla sisters have also treated more than 200 animals on the streets with the help of vets. “People watch videos of cats but rarely think of cats as pets. We aim to bring citizens closer to the idea of having pet cats,” says Charu.