Ode To Abu

Thursday 4 April 2013

D for Drive

This blog post is part of the A to Z Challenge. This challenge involves writing a blog post on any topic/theme in the order of the alphabets from A-Z. The blog posts have to be written each day through the entire month of April, excluding Sundays.

My chosen theme is the city of Chennai, its happenings, events, and my memories and experiences connected with this place.


So D for Drive. No, not long drives, although Chennai has some good roads on the outskirts for the same. 
This Drive is about CAD or the Chennai Adoption Drive. The event is held once in 2 months to help numerous abandoned puppies and kittens that need TLC or tender loving care. CAD is a non-profit organization that was started purely to find (as they call it) "forever homes" for dogs and cats of all ages. Today, the CAD team does so much more - providing foster care, medical aid, rescues and so on. 

The Drive events were conceptualized by an amazing woman named Jennifer Jacob-Murali Anand. Her husband Murali Anand runs an advertising agency and the promo material for CAD (stickers, Tshirts, bookmarks etc.) are done by his firm. The taglines, catch phrases and captions are witty and immediately strike a chord in the buyer. These are available at all the Drives and help them earn some money for the awesome work that they do.

The level of commitment and compassion that Jennifer and her core team of volunteers, comprising mainly students and working people, is to be seen to be believed. True animal lovers, they do more than their best and put in 500% of themselves in every task they undertake. 

Last year, I decided to attend the Drive after a few weeks of reading up on CAD's activities on their Facebook page. At the Drive itself, I watched with amazement at what the volunteers did and how they went about it. A wave of nostalgia washed over me as I remembered my own enthusiasm and passion as a volunteer with People for Animals (PFA) and Blue Cross many moons ago. 

Coming back to CAD, I salute their spirit and am forever indebted to them. They gave me one of the most precious members of my family. My four-legged boy, Honey. He found his way into my heart and home one fine day. The same August afternoon that I went to the Drive last year for the very 1st time. Now I cannot imagine my life without him. People who share a home with their animal companions will know what I'm talking about, so I'll spare the rest of the readers the mush. :-)

If you were to ask Honey his views on coming to live with me and his take on it, I'm willing to bet this is what he would say.

It is no coincidence that I thought of this topic for the 'D' post this morning, and later came across this video. Enjoy! :-)

Below is the poster for the upcoming Drive. Hope to see you there!


13 comments:

  1. Always a good cause. We adopted a terrier mix and she's just the best dog I've ever had.
    I am in need of adopting out some guinea pigs.

    Blogging A to Z Challenge http://www.shellygoodmanwright.com/apps/blog/show/25373502-d-is-for-distractions

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    1. That's wonderful and thank you for coming by - good luck for the challenge!

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  2. Well written & true words Sumita :)) And Honey has become a celebrity by himself!!

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    1. Hey Karthik, good to see you here! Thank you so much for coming by and reading. And Honey seems to have taken to celebrityhood like fish to water! Hehe :) See you at the Drive!

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  3. Liked the way how you integrated your passion into a post for the challenge. Kudos to you.

    All the best.

    Joy always,
    Susan

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  4. Good one! I wish I could adopt one, mum is totally against dogs and cats, sigh! someday I will adopt one :)

    Keep smiling,
    Lakshmi

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    1. Lakshmi, meanwhile you could come and play with the cute li'l ones at the drive! Do come if you can, would be great to see you there! :)

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    2. Sure! I'll drop in the next time! having a exam on 21st and 22nd so kinda held up. Looking forward for the next drive :D

      Keep smiling
      Lakshmi

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