My day today began in a very lethargic fashion. I woke up at 8.30am, which was an hour late from any other day, and reached my office cubicle at 10.30am. Till then I did not know that 07th of July 2010 would turn out to be one of my most special days of my life. Today I had the honour of donating blood for the first time ever. It was a special feeling. The Rotary Club was organizing a Blood Donation Camp in our campus for the past two days, and such events have taken place previously too, but today, something within me was urging me to go ahead. I always used to feel that such events are just like any other mass gathering where people just go to spend time. Today, I was destined to have a realization of bliss. It was God’s gift to me on this day. I am proud I did it.
As I entered the camp, there were volunteers who asked me to fill up a bio-data form, which basically asked about previous illnesses. A sticker with a serial number was attached on my left wrist, just as a mark of identification. My BP was checked (it turned out to be normal!!) followed by my pulse rate (it was 56 only; probably my heart was not beating as fast today!). Some slide tests were also performed on my blood for haemoglobin. After everything was hunky dory, I was led to an easy chair, reminiscent of the one that I have seen my grandfather use. It was a half laid-back half sitting position for me. The blood collection started.
There were quite a few people around me who had joined this noble gesture to save precious lives. It was a privilege for me to make an effort to help thousands of patients cursed with diseases like Thalassemia and Leukaemia for whom blood transfusions are the only source of relief, albeit temporary ones. My father, in his last days, required 5 bottles of blood every day to make up for all bleeding that he experienced due to a blood clot in the brain. Although we could not save him, there are so many other lives that are waiting to be saved, and so many smiles that are waiting to be back at the faces of thousands. I was cursing myself that in spite of being a universal donor (O positive blood group) I had never donated blood and hence deprived myself from this ineffable feeling. For the first time, I felt I was doing something for which God has given me life.
At the end of it all, 450 gm of blood was sucked out of my body, but I felt even stronger than before just because I had made an attempt to save lives. I was awarded a certificate of appreciation for the act, but I had no words to express my gratification to the organizers for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to experience joy and bliss.
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