Yesterday if you happened to be in Mumbai and drove past the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Colaba, it might have looked something like this (and no I had nothing to do with it, but I totally approve! Not only because (as you know by now) I quite like pink, but because the reason the Taj turned pink yesterday was in recognition of  Breast Cancer Awareness Month. During this time you will see the color pink illuminating important landmarks across the globe. Cool eh? The pink lights that drape the tower represent the pink ribbon, the universal symbol of breast health and the fight against breast cancer. (Random thought: It’s nice to see the Taj is also healing nicely after 26/11.)

Devika Bhojwani, who has made the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign her mission after fighting the illness herself spoke of the significance of spreading the word of early detection. Survivor Jyoti Hinduja (Director, Brahma Design) said, “Breast cancer is not a bad word. Like global warming, it’s a price we are paying for extreme urbanization. 1 in 22 women in Mumbai will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. So what’s the point in being afraid? The smarter thing to do is to understand it, openly discuss it, and be proactive with regular check-ups; quite similar to doing a dental clean-up every year.”

Talking of being having the strength to accept and challenge the disease, another survivor Gopa Kanungo, Partner, Chimes India told the gathering “I have never said ‘My cancer, my pain’ because then you’re inviting it to come take charge of you. And if I say ‘Why me?’ I actually mean ‘Why not someone else?’ And I don’t want anyone to ever walk in my shoes.”

The Estée Lauder Companies launched its Global Landmarks Illumination Initiative in the year 2000 and since then, hundreds of well-known landmarks such as the Empire State Builiding, New York The Tower of London, London; The Sydney Opera House , Sydney;  Leaning Tower of Pisa and many others around the world have been illuminated with pink lights every October to raise awareness and inspire action.

The message to the city is simple; save a life – yours. A simple self-examination every month is all it takes to detect breast cancer; and an early detection is the simplest cure. Please wear the Pink Ribbon, and spread the word this October. You can even dress up your twitter profile and wear a virtual one while you’re online.

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Posted on: Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 11:07 am Filed under: 26/11 Terrorism, Causes, Celebrity Spotting, Cool Stuff, Everything Mumbai, Page 3, Parties & Events, Random Thoughts, Rich & Restless. Follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.