A Cry for Help!!!

courtsey: Journey to Hillsong Blog

I don't know how much blogging will help regarding this matter. But something needs to be said. Something needs to be done. As I enter the dialysis world, I hear so many cries of help, desperation. I want to close my ears. I am human. I am sure you don't want to read further. But I have to have my say here but these the cries of the silent sufferers.

Meet Anamika.....

Name : Anamika [of course pseudo. We don't want to antagonize anyone do we?] We are all Gandhiji's followers. Slap us.. I am ready with my next cheek. So what if I take care not to ruffle your feathers. You have the absolute right to charge me for living, throw me out when you want and as you want. For I am Anamika.......

Age : 24 Young. I have the right to live. But God gave me an extra problem. I know you all have problems in your life. Marriage not working, salary not enough, Kids [I tell you] should be sent to Mars- the way they trouble us. They are your problems.My problem is I cannot have these problems since I cannot marry. Have kids. So I am happy watching yours. You carry on, please. Don't pause. For I sure hope not but life does take unwarranted turns. I hope you are prepared.

My Story:

I am Anamika. My mother works in a hospital. I live in a hospital. I have been diagnosed with renal failure. So I moved from Kolkata to Bangalore to do a checkup. It was supposed to be a small checkup. But it lasted for three years now. I live in the hospital and my mother does odd jobs here to sustain our lives..

Recently I have been told to vacate the place. Where do I go? I don't have a father. My uncles cannot pull on anymore. I want to live with dignity. Is it too much to ask? Don't people like me have the right to live. I have the courage. All I need is the God's Blessing and a guiding hand. All I want is to live or die with dignity. It is my human right.

Every country has a government. My Daddy till he was alive paid taxes. Why can I not get a helping hand from the government now? How do people like me survive? Charity? From where. I belong to the Middle Class. The class that does not get anything but has to give everything. Tax, on time payments of bills, school fees and also maintain a status in the society.

I wanted to do a course. To sustain myself and my Mom. But now the hospital people tell me that I have to look for a room outside the hospital. I pay for this room too. I pay Rs.3000. But outside can I survive? I have to pay the rent. I have to give deposit money and I need to set up my home. My home? I have only a few belonging which takes up a small room in the hospital. How can I shift from here to a new house in this strange city.

From Me to my Readers....

This is a true story. I have come across this girl living in a hospital for 3 years. There is no one with her except her Mom. The hospital, St. Johns has helped her a lot but due to rules are unable to do so any more. She has to move out of the place and get a house for herself.  Without a job, finance and incurring all the medical expenses of dialysis has taken a toll in her life. Any suggestions?

The Blood Donor: Hema Murthy

A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed!

This may be a proverb to many of you but I have seen this live in action. During the time of his dire needs when Reuben Daryl would pick up his phone and just say a line," I am in the hospital." friends from all over Bangalore would just come in. Where he lacked in family, he got it with friends. Yes, God works in mysterious ways.

I cannot stress much on the fact that humanity if properly expressed can win many battles. Be it for the world, health or even social causes. Wonder whoever coined the term 'Blood Relative' - did they have this view in mind which got distorted along the way?

If each one of us Donate Blood even once, so many lives can be saved. It may not be your near and dear ones, he or she may not be your friends but he or she will definitely send blessings to your being human account. 

Here is the story of a first time blood donor who was scared, terrified to give blood. But she did. For a Friend.....

Name: Hema Murthy

Age: Are you crazy asking this question....?

Relation to the Patient: A friend.

Has she given blood before: No

Was she scared : YES

Then why did she? Find out..... In her own words.......

1. What made you donate your blood for the first time?

 Rony was the reason, never thought I would donate blood because I am very scared of injections but when it boiled down to a person whom you care so much realized it was far more worth it. I guess the drive to help a loved one would be the reason.

2. Did not the thoughts of Aids and any other disease come in your mind?

No, I was fine as I saw they use sterilized needles and other equipment. 

3. How did the staff of the hospital treat you during the process?

The staff were more than happy to help , assist and guide. So was put to ease.

4.Was it worth it?

It was all worth it, had a great satisfaction once I stepped out.

5.Would you do it again?

I would do that again if that will save a person's life anytime.

My Personal Note:

Thank you Hema for coming forward. I know there are many people out there who regularly give blood and they don't want to come forward to reveal their names. But if we have to spread the word, we have to speak out. This is one part of the donation which cannot be man made. Only we humans can save each other. 

Selfless Love and Friendships

There comes a time in a person's life that whatever he had taken for granted becomes a mirage. An oasis, after which he keeps on running without thinking about the surreal situation. I meet so many people in my everyday life who are happy with what they have. Happy, satisfied, smug in their perfect world. I am afraid even I was one them. Then when a bolt of lightening hits us we feel surprised, angry, incredulous at the sudden attack. And this is the moment we wake up to find that there is a world out there where people need us and where we need others in our life.

The Gods must be mocking at us from Kailash, Olympus or simple and pure Heaven. We humans have duplicated everything... Except what is inside us. For our internal organs and for the very blood that is flowing in our body we have to depend on someone else. Someone anonymous who walks boldly through the corridors of an eerie hospital, donating an organ or blood for you. I salute each one of you who have donated your blood for someone you even did not know. 

For the critiques and the smirkys out there, YES there are people out there who have never donated blood in their entire life, who would cringe at the sight of a small needle but during the need and the demand of the hour boldly came forward to save a friend. 

Telling everyone Donate Blood is very easy. What I found fascinating about the whole thing is why do these people donate blood. Is it a do good theory or idealism? Is there a story behind the donations? Or simply they are just humans who have understood the true meaning of the word HUMANITY. 

I know I have been slow in gathering information. Pardon me. But in the last few months I have come across people who have shared their organs, given blood on a regular basis [professional blood donor] and some our to circumstances have overcome their fears. I have been interviewing some of these soldiers for some time now. Hopefully I will have many more joining me with their stories. 

Keeping on watching this space for some touching, heartening and selfless stories of love and sacrifice.

Unexpected guest

Enough of sadness. What for? He celebrated life. He made my life unique. There was never a day in our life after he was born that we were not having anything to do. Here is one incident which made him unique in his own way. Strangely, it was not me who remembered this. But it was in his letters to me. 

While we were living in Patna, one day it was raining very hard. Suddenly from somewhere a Sadhu came to our house. He was screaming on the street that there is a boy born in this lane whose destiny is totally different from others. 

Some superstitious ladies in our lane pointed him to our house. He simply entered our house and without waiting for an invitation came inside our house. My grandma became very scared since she believed that these kind of Sadhu's are not to be messed with. 

The Sadhu ordered the child to be brought in front of him. After seeing the baby he said that there is a mark of a moon in his thighs. Skeptic me mom looked in the thigh and yes it was there!

The Sadhu told that this boy is born under strange stars and his life would be different. I remember my family asking him how different. But he clamped up. He just said it would be different. 

I remember everyone contemplating how it could be different. Some said he would be in politics while others argued he would be a film star. But looking at his cute face I surely felt he would be different. 

How I wish today I get hold of that Sadhu so that I could ask him why he was so mysterious. If he knew that Reuben was different why did he not warn us in what way? Maybe ...just maybe things would be different.

Part 1: Interview of an Organ Donar- Sharath Iyengar

Is Organ Donation all talk and no response business? I thought so till I met some youngsters who made me realize that the word 'Idealism' is not just gathering dust in the pages of our book. Somewhere out there, we have few youngsters who are still burning the fire of idealism. 

Donating your organs is no small feat and it is not something our government or our social institutes can implement. It is not our fundamental rights and not our moral duty. So what makes us donate our organs? Is it only a personal tragedy that makes us realize that we have to do it? I am ashamed to say that this is what I did. But then I met some youngsters who have done this selfless act just for the deed. I felt humbled and honored to have met them. 

I will be asking some of these heroes of our world the motivation behind this. I just wanted to understand why they did what they did and hope and pray that their stories will spread the word in every household one day. 

Meet Sharath Iyengar:

I try all my very best in spreading the message and till date from March 8 2013 (my b'day), I've made around 4 people to pledge it. Though not thro' facebook, thats because it usually ends up only in "liking" the page/ re-sharing/ signign a cause. As I've seen, not everybody are interested in doing it. So, I'm doing it in my factory (I'm employed in the great HAL) by word-of-mouth, encouraging people to donate blood atleast once in half year and also to pledge their organs. Many have also come forward. Also, on Aug 15th, there is an old students association function in a rural place off Marathalli, from where one of my friends come to work. They had organized a blood donation camp on Jan 26 and attained a record collection from 192 donars. Like-wise, this time the thrust is on organ donation and I'm writing a letter to ZCCK for the same, learning to know the process of doing it off-line, since it is in a rural are and not every body are computer literate / internet users.

He describes himself as a guy with an attitude of  'Simple Living and High Thinking'. His birthday gift to himself is donating blood on his birthday. Such youngsters are rare today and I hope not extinct. And for the skeptics out there, his Facebook status states:"What better way to celebrate the b'day than by donating blood and pledging my organs?"


Sharath Iyengar- Sharing his thoughts....

What motivated you to take such a novel step?

I always had this penchant to do something back to the society and not for the individual. Try to help the needy in one or the other way. I used to donate my blood on my b'day and also made a couple of my friends to it on their b'days'. This time after seeing Reubens' causes, I planned to pledge my organs, until then, frankly speaking, never knew that our other organs could also be pledged, just like our eyes. Though I would read in the newspapers about the transplantations, never thought that it was about the organs that were already pledged and donated. I wanted this pledging to coincide on my b'day and asked Reuben itself about the procedure. Though, I could not do it on my b'day, but it took me 2 days to do it. 

Did you discuss your decision with family or friends?

I discussed this issue with my family who readily obliged for the same. After I received my card, I proudly showed it to my friends and motivated them too, to pledge and they too agreed. Though, I did not find the need to discuss about me, pledging my organs with any of my friends except for Reuben.

Can you tell the readers what the procedure is?

Pledging our organs is surely much much easier than opening an e-mail account or creating a FB profile. All one needs to do is just to click on the URL, follow the procedure available there. The online form is just one page. Before proceeding, it is good to discuss with the family members first. Once, all the details are filled in, which are very basic in nature, two witnesses are required, whose details and addresses are required to be filled up in the designated places. Once you "Submit" it, it's done, you become a proud organ-donor. Once it is done, you get a card through post/ courier which requires you to fill up and have it in your custody at all times. In case of any unforeseen incidents, the availability of that card is sufficient to acknowledge the fact that you have pledged your organs. You can have a go at the online form by clicking on the ONLINE FORM

Many people have religious stigmatism regarding organ donation? Did it ever cross your mind?

You are absolutely right. I have experienced it first hand in this case. When I was educating my friends regarding organ donation, its uses among others, this came as a reply from one of them. He said, if we donate any of our organs in this life, we will have those organs missing i.n our next life. So, I said, when we are donating our Kidneys, Corneas, Heart, Lungs, Liver, Pancreas, Heart Valves and other tissues in this life and if I'm born without any of these in my next life, I'd be the happiest person not to be born at all as a man cannot be born without a heart or lungs/ livers. How can we expect a baby to be born without any of these? So, this question back to him made him realize the myth behind the organ donations. 

Do you think we can ever understand the importance of Organ Donation?

We can surely understand the importance of organ donation only through self realization. One can only motivate the other for the cause and he shall not motivate another person unless he knows the value of the recipient's life saved. Education is the only means to reach to the masses. Not to forget the regular newspaper articles that tell the success stories of numerous recipients and those who want them. One more thing that should be highlighted, I personally feel, is that not every pledger can donate his organs. It all depends upon the type of death he/ she gets and the duration lapsed before realizing that the person is dead from the time of death. So, only a fraction of donors can have their organs kept alive in some others' physical body.  Thus, the demand is huge but supply is never met. The only hope is to enroll multiple people to pledge their organs. 

Thanks to all the Donors!!!

Talking about organ donation is one of the toughest things I have ever done. Many of us are afraid to talk about it. I wondered why. I started asking questions to many youngsters and aged. The answers I got have opened my eyes. I would wonder why people are not responding to my queries. I would wonder where I am going wrong. I would wonder whether I am making an impact. But one thing I would not wonder is - Am I right in asking this of people?

There are some names I would love to take here- who have done the act. Youngsters who are proud organ donors. I have come across young girls who have not only donated their organs but who has also motivated her family to sign up too. I am proud to know such people and I do hope they will come forward with their stories for me to tell it to you all.

And then I came across a person who asked me Have I done it or am I preaching only. At first I got very angry and then I thought why am I getting angry. I have suffered as I have seen a loved one suffering. But to all who have not faced this situation, to them this is surreal. I understand. And to answer your query I will openly say that YES I have donated my organs.

I live in Texas. When we go for our license, we are asked whether we want to donate our organs. We registered on the spot at Donate Life Texas. It is globally recognized and wherever I meet my maker, I leave my organs behind. 

In the course of Reuben's operations I have met so many of his friends who have selflessly donated blood. Once when I was by his side I saw so many of his friends who without preamble would come and give their blood and such an act would always bring tears in his eyes. He would call you all his Blood Brothers. 

This time when I was not there, I know many of you came. I heard that most of you came because of his friend's Facebook Status. I was overwhelmed. I am humbled. And I promise to be a part of this selfless act whenever I can. Here I know of someone who gave her blood for the first time. I know she was scared but she did it for friendship. That act of hers will never be forgotten. Like that so many of you turned up. I wish I knew all your names. I wish I met all of you.  But you guys are a motivation for this movement. I just hope many of you join me in my endeavor for this awareness. 

I will be following this post with the interviews of the people who have actually donated their organs. Gathering information is taking time and i am sorry if this topic saddens you. But this is my small step in saving just one life if I can.

I have so many plans which we both had discussed , especially in the last few months. I don't know how far I will be able to go alone without him but I sure am going to try. Thank you all for private messages you guys have sent me, I respect your privacy. Thank you to all those dialysis technicians who have joined me in my fight and to all those Doctor's who are so free with their information and most of all the biggest thank you to all those laymen who are afraid but yet have come forward to donate their organs.

Being Born 21st June 1982

Introduction...

Birth of a child is a joyous affair. Everyone wants kids. Marriage in India is done to have kids, right? But in this we forget that it is not only the child we want, but we want  HEALTHY KIDS. Every mom should at that time needs to look after her health, take care of what she eats and not live in stress. That said and done, it also becomes imperative that if there is an inkling of doubt regarding the child's health, start researching. If the doctor has any inclination of something being wrong with the baby, then please take necessary actions. However, much it seems heartless at that point, I can assure you, no child wants to go through an ocean of pain, social sympathy and economic torture.

From Reuben...

Dear Modern Parents, 

Please take care of your kids from the day they are conceived. If you have any inclination that the child will not be 100% perfect in mind and body, then please rethink before delivering. If you think I am being cruel now, it is nothing compared to the life I have led. 

I wanted to laugh and play cricket. I could not. I wanted to ride a bike, I could not. You still don't think I need to be aborted? Well, how about this, I never could eat salt in any form all through my childhood. When my friends were getting ready for a sports day, I was busy getting hooked to an I.V. I was always having fluid retention in my body. There were day I could not walk also. All I can say is I was not given the choice whether I wanted to live like this or not.

Don't hate me too much for this suggestion. I was only 4 when I started questioning why I am different from others.  May all kids be born healthy. Love Reuben.

From Rubina...

My mother had hepatitis when she was carrying him. The doctor would not abort and she convinced my parents that nothing will happen to the child. My mother was hooked on saline for 6 months, eating only boiled food, rasgullas and sugarcane juice.... and lots and lots of saline water.

When he would ask me why he was born I could not answer him. I knew not the purpose of his birth except for the fact that I loved my bro too much. How do I know that I loved him too much? I cried every year once when the doctors would say that he is in a critical stage. I cried like that for 29 years.

Note to my readers...
I am sorry if I have made anyone sad. All I know that no child should endure what he had endured. But then this is not a tale of sadness but a tale of bravery, a constant battle between life and death.

The first time it happened, he was in an incubator.........