Mumbai Diary page: Thursday Theme

Berry good!
In an office somewhere in the city, during the lunch break recently, some colleagues were comparing their mobile phones and rating one against the other.

Illustrations/Amit Bandre

Operating systems that sound like the names of desserts were being rolled off tongues, and brands named after fruits were each being touted as "better than the latest".

Finally one young woman put paid to the competition when she pulled out a pretty red phone and said, "Look, I have a ‘Raspberry'!" The rivalry dissolved into chuckles as the colleagues realised how silly they must have sounded.

Three wheels and other details
One often has a lot to complain about when it comes to autorickshaws. And our plaints tend to fall on deaf ears as the little kings of the suburban roads carry on unchecked. One has to just count one's blessings if an auto driver stops, agrees to the destination, and the meter is not rigged.

The autorickshaw bears the driver's email address rather than the more common phone number. Pic/Atul Kamble

But every once in a while we find an auto or taxi driver who warms our hearts with helpfulness or just plain good cheer. This Khar-based autorickshaw driver, Deepak Shewale, has provided not just his location and registration number on the back of the vehicle but also his working hours and possibly more important than a phone number these days his email address. Well, if you have a problem with this one you know where to write in!

Wag of the tail!
Whether it's a baby sparrow fallen out of its nest, or a canine survivor of the 26/11 attacks, the Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital is where furred and feathered denizens of the city get medical care and shelter.

It's a nice, cool verandah for doggie meals

Known simply as the Parel Veterinary Hospital, it was set up 140 years ago and is under the purview (or, perhaps, purr-view) of the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, treating, on average, about 400 animals of all types every day. Besides, homeless animals who have been brought in and abandoned, or just left at the gate, are also taken in and given shelter here.

The hospital walls have seen many stories. Pics/Ganesh Pawar

If you want to adopt an animal (or several), the BSPCA is the place to go to. Check out bombayspca.org for more information, or email bombayspca@yahoo.co.in. Even if you are unable to care for an animal due to space or other constraints, there are many other ways in which you can help. Seeing the change that just a little love and care can bring about is well worth it!