B positive... are you?

Jasmine Singh

You can no longer tag them as a give-a-damn generation; just because they care two hoots about what the world (read distant relatives and neighbours) thinks of them. We are talking about youngsters who have the intent and courage to their voice, a generation that is young yet sensitive who care and show it through their acts, like donating blood.

Here are these youngsters who have willingly gone ahead and donated blood, each time someone has requested them to do so, or each time they felt they needed to...Reasons, why not ask them.

Five minutes of your time + 35ml of your blood

Colloquially, this young generation is known as the pizza-burger-fast car-fast lane types. But, not everyone falls in this bracket; there are those who think of others around them, pretty much always. Rahul Juneja, 23, has donated blood umpteen times. “Of course, more than five times,” he smiles, making it clear that he definitely meets the criteria we had mentioned— young blood donors who have donated blood more than 5-7 times!

Rahul doesn’t spin a sob story or a heartfelt story to explain why he donates blood. “It will save someone’s life, is this not a reason enough to donate blood?”

Like Rahul, Himank Singla, a resident of Panchkula-10, doesn’t see donating blood as an act of bravado. To this young gun, it is a mere duty, something each of us should be doing. So, does this mean no scepticism, no questions, just go ahead and donate blood?

“Who said this,” Akansha Verma, a student of MCM DAV College, shrugs her shoulders. “I see blood donation as a duty as well, but this doesn’t mean I didn’t have my share of queries before getting into this act.”

Akansha, who has donated blood on numerous occasions, at various camps, and whenever she has received a forward message regarding the need for a particular type of blood, wasn’t sure whether she could go ahead and get the needle pricked in her skin. “I was jittery for the first time, I had my eyes shut the entire time. I felt mentally and physically weak. But the following day when I woke up, it felt good. Some kind of ‘peace feeling’. I didn’t share the fact that I donated blood with anyone, yet I felt nice.”

This made Akansha donate blood the next time, and the next time... “Almost seven times now,” she smiles.

Some curious cases

These are youngsters who haven’t just walked away with a certificate of a successful blood donor from the site, they have first asked what good happens through this act. Many have also gone all the way to check where their precious drops of life go.

Kanwar Rana, a student of law from Sector-45, was told by many friends that donating blood was a prestige thing. He laughs, “I was dumfounded when someone told me that it was cool to donate blood.”

For Kanwar it was the thought that one day he or someone close to him may also need blood that made him donate blood many times. He adds, “The fact that my blood can someday somewhere save a life gives me immense peace.”

As for the fear of needles and infection, Kanwar smiles. The same question gets a different response from Shweta Dogra, a regular blood donor. "It hurts, but it is worth the pain."

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