Are we socially responsible enough?

What is social responsibility? You might have come across this term many times during the recent past. What with floods, droughts, tsunamis and even earthquakes. I define social responsibility as giving something back to the society in our very own individual means. But, whatever we are doing, is it sufficient enough? Read on.

Most people know me for my community on orkut about blood donation. Well, though we have a head count of 1869, as of date, (phew! that's a huge number) we are still not in a position to meet the emergency blood requests, most of the times. Today was one such day where there was literally a struggle to find AB+ blood for a child admitted in Manipal Hospital.

I got a call (wake up call!) from Mr. Mahesh, the child's father around 10.30 in the morning. I was at home, sick (will be sick for another 6-7 days). The request for AB+ was made. Since it is a positive blood group I was confident of helping the father without much trouble. The spreadsheet I maintain was referred and two donor (who were residing in the neighborhood of the hospital) numbers were given out. Twenty minutes after, I get a call from the father, no one is picking the phone on one number, and the other donor is out of station. Well, this was not new. Generally people do not update their changed numbers (contact details) either because they are just not interested or because they would have forgotten that they are a part of a community to help people in need, in emergencies. Some people also feel that it is one other community on orkut, so why fuss about it. People also travel and such instances can't be helped. So two more numbers were given. It turned out that both the numbers were "not reachable". Now I get a bit worried, so I start calling people. There were around 25 numbers out of which as many as 15 numbers were "please check the number you have dialed" and "wrong number". This is not supposed to happen during an emergency where someone is battling for dear life.

Then, I had some partial successes. Two people agreed to come forward; but the time was a constraint. Then I called Varun, a student studying near Koramangala. He was ready to even bunk classes for the noble deed, if required. He was free during is lunch break and the doctors and father were fine with the time. After a harrowing experience of almost two hours some purpose of the community was served. Someone was indebted with gratitude; Varun had the satisfaction of being the hero of the day. Hats off Varun!!! For the rest of you, just think it over.

Now coming back to the subject, Social Responsibility. (You are not expected to read further; I have given some bitti [free] unwanted gyaan [knowledge] below.)

Every individual has his or her own way of responding to the social cause. Some people donate cash (easiest way according to me), some in kind, some donate organs (after death, of-course), even the entire human body (hey! i can proudly say that two in our home have pledged to do so), some teach, some clean the environment, some say no to plastics, some sponsor midday meals for kids, some take care of children education, etc. We have innumerable means of helping our fellow beings in times of distress and crisis. But is this sufficient? I am not blaming anyone; its just an individual's conception of doing things. Every person has his or her own priorities.

Except for human organs and human body, everything else has a substitute. Blood, is one such element in nature which cannot be substituted with anything else. People die when blood requirements are not met on time. Precious lives are lost just for the sake of the red liquid. Moreover the donor replenishes his blood within two months; with reduced cholesterol and many other benefits. So whenever you hear a cry for help, please respond positively.

Something to ponder:

1. Bindu: A very enthusiastic and eager blood donor. She has been to two of our blood donation camps, traveling far and wide. But on both the occasions, the doctors refused to draw blood because of weight issues. Please don't lose heart Bindu; just try to put on weight.
2. Rajesh: I proudly attribute this "ನೀರು ದಾಹಕ್ಕೆ ರಕ್ತ ಜೀವಕ್ಕೆ" (means water: thirst :: blood: life) to him. Words are very powerful, but what about the deeds? He has donated blood just once. His guise, when we have so many donors around, how does my donation matter. Buddy, you haven't experienced an emergency. Please alter your mindset.
3. Prakash: A donor whose weight is just around the borderline. Donated blood a couple of times; however the donations begin with a serious discussion with the in-charge doctor about weight, and number of donations made so far. I will always try to be of some use and never give up. ;-)
4. Putta: (Sorry, he wouldn't recognize if I used his real name) Not sure how many times he has donated blood. but he always has a dislike towards voluntary blood donation camps. I will definitely drag him to a hospital in case of an emergency but there is a need to change the mentality.

So, that is all from side. Let me know if some eyes have opened and please be responsive to such requests. Don't turn a blind eye as this may lead to a loss of a precious life.

PS: (not disclaimer!) All the names and events are true. Just don't sue me for defamation :-).

90 minutes sleep cost 10.5K!!!

Royally duped!!! That's what comes to mind when I think about what happened the other day.

My 90 minutes of sleep cost me a cool INR 10,500. Don't believe it? Then read on...

It was Tuesday, the last day of June 2009. My company was having its monthly shutdown (blame recession). Employees had to take leave without pay for a certain number of days in a quarter. It was one such occasion where-in even though I was on leave I had to go work. Since I was already without pay I look the liberty of going late to work. Rather than the liberty, I would say it was my love for sleep, my habit to get up late, my lack of enthusiasm to see the early morning rays, bluntly said my laziness. :(

The regular bus to my company starts at 7.40 am near my place. There is no other direct bus to the company. However another direct bus to my office leaves from Gangenahalli, which is exactly one bus stop away from my regular bus stop. As I have a valid pass to board the BMTC bus (that's our local public transport), I went to the stop to catch a bus. I avoid buses which are full when I have time.

On this particular day I was a bit late (thankfully not because of my laziness). When I reached the stop, the time was around 9.15. The stop was sort of empty, I was happy. A bus came, which was sort of ok to board. The bus had doors. Suddenly there was an influx of passengers who were not there in the stop earlier. As I was supposed to get down at the next stop, I boarded the bus last. There were people standing on the steps and asked others to get in. Their guise was that the driver would close the doors. The bus had already started to move. At that point of time, I received a call on my cell phone. Since the bus was now crowded, I took out my cell, put it on silent mode and again placed it in my pocket. As soon as I lifted my hand, the person near me told that someone's phone had fallen down from the bus and he wanted me to check whether it was mine. I was sure that I had kept the cell phone in my pocket, but even then checked to make sure again. To my horror the phone was not there. At the same time, another person told that a phone indeed had fallen off the bus and had broken into two pieces. You usually doubt when one person tries to confuse you. But, when two different people tell the same thing you will be forced to believe them. In my case, I believed them! The bus slowed down near a speed breaker and they actually made me get down, saying that the broken phone was there on the road, a few feet back. I retraced my steps back and then it struck to me. Eureka! I have been royally duped. The person/s responsible for stealing my phone made me believe in their crap story.

Now here is some introspection. As soon as I found my phone missing, I knew that I had lost it. My analytical mind put past a conspiracy that someone flicked it and threw it out of the bus to his counterpart. What my mind couldn't process was that, I was being innovatively duped, something which was never heard before.

So, on that fateful day my sleep had cost me dearly. INR 116 for every minute of extra sleep.

Though I have got a duplicate SIM with the same old number, I have lost all my contacts, reminders and photographs. So, when you call me/ message me and I will ask "May I know who is this?", please do not be offended. I may forget some important days as well; please forgive me.