95) Beauty without cruelty

Sabena Sachdev is a modern woman of town and a walking definition of high fashion- from her 2 inch high footwear to her waxed legs and her face with make-up products from Europe and her hair that needed grooming and fixing once a month at a posh parlour. She’s a kind of beauty whom strangers would stop for a second look. When a woman is in her mid 20s works for an advertising agency as a copywriter, then you can complete the picture yourself!!!

Driving her Maruti Zen from office, she chanced upon a large crowd gathered on her way back home in Peddar road. A kite had been hit by a vehicle and it lay prostrate on the ground. There were plenty of onlookers but none any wiser as to the next move. She called her boyfriend Deepak and he was there on the spot inside of 15 minutes.

Deepak suggested that they take the bird to a vetenary hospital and he felt that the injury were more superficial. He got a gunny bag and the bird was safely fastened and
proceeded to a vet’s place. That was Sabena’s first tryst with something outside her ken.

The bird did recover and it looked more a case of shock. It was a wild bird trapped by accident in downtown Mumbai and as far imaginable from its natural habitat. Deepak was an expert in feeding as he put on his leather gloves and fed it meat from a distance. The bird stubbornly refused and only after they went out of view did come to inspect more closely. After two days it had enough of Bombay and went soaring into the air.

That was Sabena’s first exposure and since then she joined a movement called “Beauty without cruelty” for prevention of cruelty to animals. We generally think that poachers are the villains in the forests forgetting that there is a lot of commerce involved; as long as there demands for animal products there would be contraband trafficking. The Chinese believe that tiger products have medicinal value and that has resulted in the tiger population in India almost wiped out.

Renet is extracted from the stomach of young calves and is used in cheese and curd. The fashion industry is not free from guilt either – the use of leather in footwear, hand accessories and garments. Live snakes are bashed against rocks and then their skin extracted for your beautiful handbags.

Sabena is an active member of “Beauty without cruelty” society and spends her weekends protesting against torture to animals, or feeding stray dogs in her locality or collecting signatures for petitions to various projects that abuse these voiceless creatures.

She is already making an impact as she produced a 30 second TVC and causing ripples on air.
From an uptight advertising professional to an animal activist has been some mental journey. She says,” I feel more contend today than chasing promotions and increments. I feel my life has more purpose today”.

Surely the animals would definitely agree on that!!! (507 words)