The comma

A dear friend once described himself to me as a comma. The strategic pause before the next important phase in the lives of all his key relationships. The mark that makes sense out of disconnected phrases, that glues together connected thoughts, that allows for that most important of all needs - time to stop and ponder.

It's comma time for me, folks. Time to leave a phrase behind while I go in search of the next one. Time to answer some internal questions, erase some full stops and add a few exclamation marks to my already oh-so-interesting life. But not before taking full advantage of the comma.

I will be back here someday soon. Till then, may the good Lord bless you with love, joy, peace, security, and success. Boa Sorte.

'Beautiful Inside'

I came back to office on Friday after several stressful meetings (no guesses why!), to discover this crown on my chair with a bouquet of red carnations and white gladioli, a Rs 5000 voucher from some exotic Mumbai spa, and a letter from Femina telling me that I had been voted the most beautiful woman in my office.
Apparently I will feature in Femina along with four others from here (Deepam and Priya btw are genuinely pretty and petite unlike moi). I have often appeared in Femina over the years, as author, media planner, tennis player, animal person, whatever, never never as beautiful. So ofcourse I did a double take, but then the letter went on to talk about being beautiful inside and making other people happy and all that jazz and then I got the drift.

The folks in Parel voted for me for one reason and one reason alone - I call it the "Fear Factor"! They got too scared not to! But thanks anyway, guys and gals, I love you lots, but sorry, am not sharing the massage or the crown with any of you.

Rainbow, Red, Mirchi, Meow

My perspective on the radio measurement debate which has appeared in Campaign India dated October 12, out today. I am shocked by the number of printer's devils in a publication with international antecedents. Read it anyway, please.

World Animals Day

Today is World Animals Day. Also the GSPCA Foundation Day, when we planted Leopoldina, now a tall and slender badam tree. This year we dispensed with the traditional mass in honour of St Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of animals and nature, and the blessing of all the plants and animals. Instead, I just prayed and blessed all of them myself before rushing to the airport to meet a torrential downpour before heading back to Mumbai.

Terribly sad therefore to come back to an email from Chinny, that the CBI had raided the homes of erstwhile office bearers of the Animal Welfare Board of India - and his Blue Cross office too in the bargain. War is like that - the good and the bad both get hurt. St Francis always believed in the power of nature - when push comes to shove the universe finds a way to come to your side, like the wolves and the birds came to his in his last hour. Maybe all the thousands of animals that the Blue Cross has rescued and rehabilitated in the last thirty years will do the same for Chinny and his staff.

Above is a picture of Pravin, veterinary assistant with us since inception, with one of his friends at Ashwim beach last Independence Day.