Deepa Venkatraman \ufb01nds out from local
rock and metal bands the secret
behind their names.

nuradha Sawhney loves her job. A former employee of a top leather buying house,

Sawhney is now a formid- able campaigner against leather products. \u201cLike many people, I never gave a second thought to the fact that my shoes used to moo,\u201d she says, denouncing the leather-manufacturing process as \u201cabhorrent\u201d.

In her role as PETA India\u2019s chief functionary, she\u2019s seen the international non-pro\ufb01t group through many milestones includ- ing PETA\u2019s entry into the Limca Book of Records as the country\u2019s largest

She reveals that a career in an NGO is far from being a hobby as popularly perceived and that though they of\ufb01cially have \ufb01ve- day weeks, employees are always on call for emergencies routed to them in the absence of other

help. \u201cI even make stops on the highways and check my email through wi-\ufb01,\u201d says Sawhney, adding that she doesn\u2019t think of it as a job. \u201cYou lose track of time, because it\u2019s not work\u201d.

Her colleagues include accoun- tants, lawyers, MBAs and com- puter professionals whom she describes as \u201carticulate and ratio- nal, and the extra thing everyone has is compassion\u201d. Speaking about the difference between a regular job and one in the social sector, she says: \u201cI know that no one in my of\ufb01ce is hurting an ani- mal. We don\u2019t have chairs made of leather. Only vegan food is con- sumed here. And we all have one common goal.\u201d

Our interview is interrupted by a cheerful bark. She puts me on hold to ask someone - \u201cWhy\u2019s Rex jumping about like that? Is he ok?\u201d Rex, who was rescued by PE- TA (from people who kept him habitually chained), is a regular at her of\ufb01ce, alongside other com- panion animals who can come to work provided they get along with him.

Like her colleagues, Sawhney is always looking towards the next goal, the next cruelty issue to ad- dress. \u201cI might get into politics to speak out for animals. And I\u2019m planning a book on animal wel- fare in India,\u201d she says, quoting from Robert Frost\u2019s poem - \u201cWhat\u2019s that line again? Miles to go before I sleep\u201d.

She walks the talk, and men- tions that she hasn\u2019t switched off her phone in nine years.

Has it all been worthwhile? Her answer comes without hesitation. \u201cI can\u2019t believe I ever did anything else with my life\u201d.\u25a0

A career in a non-pro\ufb01t organization comes with big
challenges and even bigger rewards according to
Anuradha Sawhney, PETA India\u2019s chief functionary

SMOT Business School, a premier management
school based in Chennai, is organising an
English essay writing contest \u2013 Ready, Steady,
Write - for the \ufb01nal year students of arts and
engineering stream, who are passing out of
college this current academic year (2008 \u2013

The contestants have to write an essay on the
topic \u2018As a responsible citizen of India, how
will I take my country through this \ufb01nancial
slowdown\u2019 (or) on \u2018Out of 30 Lakh students,
who graduate every year, only 5 lakh choose a
management course for their PG. In what
ways this \ufb01gure could be doubled?\u2019 The word
limit is minimum of 1000 words.

The essay needs to be \ufb01rst submitted through
email to pg@smot.edu.in (MS Word format)
and the handwritten copy to be couriered to
SMOT campus address.

The best three essays will be awarded the
prize money of Rs. 25,000, Rs. 15,000 &
Rs.10,000 respectively. Winners who are
aspiring to join SMOT Business School for
PGPM course stand to win a prize money of
Rs. 1 lakh or 50 % scholarship on the course
fee as \ufb01rst prize, Rs.50,000 or 25 % scholarship
as second prize and Rs.25,000 or 10 %
scholarship as third prize.

The contestants have to regsiter at
www.smot.edu.in and get the Unique
Registration Number (URN) and this number
needs to be quoted for all future
communications. Last date to register online
to get URN is June 15 and last date to submit
is June 30, 2009. The contest is open to
students across India.

I can\u2019t
believe I ever
did anything else
with my life

Osher Moosica, a rapidly growing group of talented musicians, will be performing at
the Alliance Francaise auditorium on May 29 at 7.30 p.m. The performance is organised
by Alliance Francaise of Madras (AFM) in association with Musee Musicals. For details
call AFM at 28279803/28271477

They didn\u2019t know each other till they formed a band about a year ago. They were from different genres of music but had a lot of energy to give best form of music from their cell and hence they came up with the name In- carcerate which means prison in Latin. Prasan- na percussionist of the Blues-rock band says, \u201cThere was a suggesti- on for Rock Incarcer- ate, but later changed it as we would be brand- ed rock group. Within this con\ufb01nement there is this force that is ex- pected to bring out the unexpected.\u201d

Tamil metal band comprising Naveen on drums, Ath- ithya on bass, Erick on lead guitar and Eddy on vocals. Their band name means \u2018\ufb02ood\u2019 in Tamil. Naveen says, \u201cOur music unleashes like a \ufb02ood and since our songs are in Tamil we thought of keeping the name of the band in the same language.\u201d Yet another acoustic band with an extremely witty name, L.E.M. (Li- berty, Equality and Ma- sala Tea), formed by Naveen is going to rock the city next month. When asked about the funda

the name, he says, \u201cWait and watch but our songs are full of life for the people of Chennai.\u201d

This is one rock band that has a name nothing to do with their music or songs, but it is a funny tale. Satish, the bass guitarist, recalls, \u201cWe were watching the \ufb01lm

tice session and one of our team members suggested why not we name the group after one of the characters \u2013 Scrat. It was cute and we all liked the idea. The character is always seen hunting and loves food and so do we.\u201d

It was a pleasant evening and the band members were racking their heads outside a church for a name. Eureka! Farah, one of their former vocalists, came up with Ar- mour of God. Guitarist Addy says, \u201cAlthough we are a death metal band we are not anti-Christ and our songs are a blend of \ufb01erceness and melody. Our name re\ufb02ects the kind of music we compose.\u201d

Blood Covenant is one of the \ufb01rst Christian death met- al bands formed in the city in 2005. All their lyrics are coined based on the New Testament, when Jesus sac- ri\ufb01ced his blood for the well- being of the people. Ronald, the guitarist, says, \u201cAs our songs re\ufb02ect Biblical sayings sung in the death metal for- mat, we stuck to this name.\u201d