No, it’s not my birthday. Not yet anyway, it’s next week. This week I’m celebrating a very special milestone in my life. Five years ago when I thought I had reached a point in life where I should just throw the towel in and forget it all, opportunity came knocking on my door and how.

I started co-hosting the breakfast show on East FM and started my weekly column with the star ‘Life with a Pinch of Masala – The Extreme Side’. Both opportunities came at the same time from different sources and imagine my delight when I learnt that both entities are part of the Radio Africa Group!

This five-year journey has been immensely wonderful and a huge learning experience for me.  I can definitely say I’ve grown leaps and bounds and have reached a place in life where I’m more decisive about what I want from my life than ever before. I boast of the most wonderful and down to earth colleagues who leave anybody else star struck with their presence but are just like me at work, doing a job they love like anybody else in this world.

Along the way I had to take a sabbatical from the radio station because my Dad was diagnosed with an illness that had him bedridden for more than a year. That was a very tough and trying time for me. I left what I love doing most for a person I love the most in my life. Dad needed help with his business and Mum’s health didn’t allow her to be at work full time. I have no regrets whatsoever because all my life my Dad has been my backbone and it was an honour for me to be there for him too.

Eventually Dad got a bit better and once again, opportunity came knocking on my door and I was asked if I would like to take up the slot of the afternoon request show. I wept with gratitude. I counted each and every blessing of mine and made my way back to my RAL family, where I belonged. Before I was approached for this job, I had been asked by another radio station to join them but I refused. I couldn’t bring myself to go work there and it didn’t feel right. It somehow felt disloyal.

Working at RAL has opened up many doors for me, I’ve been blessed with a lot of opportunity to move ahead in life and the best thing about it all is that I get a lot of support from everyone. On Fridays I indulge in my Masala gossip in this column and for a very long time I’d been trying to nudge my way to get a full page in the Star and yet again opportunity rose and I’m lucky to be given the Bollywood gossip page every Thursday!

When I speak about my experiences at RAL, I speak with exclamation marks. Nothing is just a statement. It is an exclamation for me, and usually an excited one laden with things to do to move ahead in life.

You may think I’m lucky but I beg to disagree. I’m actually very blessed. This has been my most emotional write up. I’ve paused to wipe my tears every now and then, and the stuff trickling out of my nose too. My eyes are puffy, my nose is red, and I have terrible headache but I’m the happiest person ever.

I’m celebrating a milestone…!