The Purrfect Collective
What if art could save lives?
That question started everything. Here is how it happened, and who it was for.
By profession I work in risk management. By heart I have been rescuing animals for as long as I can remember.
Family lore has it that at three or four I informed my parents I would have loved them even more if they had been a pair of dogs. They have never let me forget it.
Outside my corporate career I am an artist, an avid reader, and a lover of rain, chai and long conversations. I have ridden motorcycles, competed in kickboxing and white-water rafting, camped under open skies, and found as much joy sitting quietly under a tree with a stray dog as I have in a boardroom.
"Zindagi lambi nahi,
badi honi chahiye."
A life does not have to be long. It should be meaningful.
The Artistic Supervisory Board
Hariya and Cheeku started this, but they certainly did not have the last word. Their legacy lives on through my three other rescue cats and two rescue dogs, each convinced they are management. They inspire, supervise, and occasionally interrupt every new idea.
Pandit Hardaya Shukla, aka Hariya
Founding Father & Chairman of Quiet Judgment
2009 – 2022
The reason The Collective exists
Five weeks old when he came home. A large grey rescue with a mind of his own, famously elusive around everyone except his human mom. When he passed in July 2022, I began doing henna to raise funds for rescue. I was not starting anything. I was trying to turn grief into something that could help other animals.
Seth Manikchand Gupta, aka Cheeku
Legacy builder-soul cat; Keeper of the Collective
2009 – 2026
The reason The Collective continues
Three weeks old, and named grandly because every beloved Indian family member deserves it. He stayed my constant companion while that little fundraiser slowly became something bigger than I had imagined. When I lost him in February 2026, The Purrfect Collective was born. The name had been quietly waiting for years.
Inky
Chief of Chaos & Resident Bat-Owl
Born without a tail. Half a brain cell. Full-time menace.
Babloo Buttons Bhai
Chief Mischief Officer & Contributor to his Human's Gray Hair
Quality Control Officer
Sir Coco Puff
Head of Greeting & Former Small Potato
Crowd Control Officer
Bagheera
Co-Chief of Chaos & Custodian of the Shared Brain Cell
Inspector of everything, especially boxes
Ms. Munmun Munni
Southern Belle & Director of Snuggles
Late night artistic companion
Chikki
Newest Recruit & Chief Carrier Inspector
Still deciding who's in charge
Gallery
Somewhere animals, artists and artisans all belong.
Today The Purrfect Collective raises funds for animal rescue. Tomorrow we hope to become something much larger. A place where rescued animals live safely, artists create, artisans share their craft, and people reconnect with nature, community and themselves.
