A momma cat on the Indian roadside

Thanks to the heroic efforts of our taxi driver, Manju, we had safely descended from a tea farm at an elevation of about 8000 feet up in the mountainous area of Ooty, India, down a windy road through wild traffic to a rest stop that sits just before the entrance to a national park where elephants would appear in our headlights. We were hungry, so we stopped and ate another delicious Indian dinner.

As we waddled back to the taxi, I suddenly spotted an orange and white cat walking through the shadows to my left.

"Kitty!" I shouted to Tryskuit and Soundarya, the other cat lovers in the group. Then, as the others watched with bemusement, the three of us dashed over to meet her.

This is she and, as you can see, she is pregnant.

Tryskuit gives the pregnant orange cat a scritch.

Tryskuit and the pregnant orange cat.

Soundarya gives the pregnant orange cat a scritch.

Tryskuit watches as the pregnant orange cat strolls past.

A black kitten appears in front of a door. Soundarya strolls over to say "hi," hoping to give it a scritch, too.

But the black kitten is not a scritch taker. It dashes off. 

Then we all climb back into the taxi. Manju drives us into the midst of the elephants of the steamy India night.