National Voluntary Blood Donation Day!!!

Hi....

Well, its been quite some time since I updated my blog. Had been busy with too many things of late, busy with exams, lost my wallet (sad story, shall update sometime later....), Ganeshotsav, and quite many other things!!! :)

Well, to mark my return to blogging after a short break, I would like to share some important information with you all :)

Today, the 1st of October, is the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day. As you all are pretty well aware, our country is in need of a lot of Blood, as the HUGE non-stop demand for blood & platelets from patients, is not being met by the short supply from donors & blood banks. There are umpteen instances of people running from pillar to post, to get Blood of a particular group, and further umpteen instances of patients dying due to non-availability of Blood.

On this special day, I would like to appeal to all of you, to become voluntary donors, and possibly even register yourself with local hospitals and the State Blood Transfusion Council, by which they can contact you in times of need. Remember, each time you donate a unit of blood, you are saving Three lives! Enjoy the pleasure that comes with this feeling of doing such a noble deed!

Apart from that, Mumbai is going to get its FIRST Platelets Bank! Platelets are a component of the whole blood. Platelet donation involves a different process, known as "Apheresis", wherein the whole blood is taken from the donor, sent into a machine which seperates the platelets from the whole blood, and returns the rest of the blood (minus the platelets) to the donor's body. Its a comparatively longer procedure, in comparison to whole blood donation, but is more necessary, as there are a large number of patients in dire need of Platelets, and the sad part is, there aren't as many Platelet Donors! Worse case is that, not many people are aware of such a process in the first place, most are aware only about the regular Whole Blood Donation.

For further details, you can check out the following links:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/City_soon_to_get_platelet_donors_club/rssarticleshow/2415134.cms

http://www.mahasbtc.com/

http://www.bloodgivers.com/

http://www.bloodgivers.com/intfacts.asp

You can also search the internet, or consult other regular donors, or local hospitals, for further details. Good Luck :)

Remember, each unit donated, is Three lives Saved!!! :)

"Unsporting" Sportsmanship!!!

Well, the second test of the India-England test series currently underway, has been in the news for many good as well as bad reasons. Good ones being the wonderful & spirited performances by the Indian bowlers & batsmen..... while the bad ones being poor umpiring decisions throughout the match, sledging by the English etc.

Now, the latest incident that happened on field a couple of days back, was the Zaheer Khan-Kevin Peitersen incident. Let me throw some light on it - Apparently what happened was that, when Zaheer came into bat during India's first innings, some English player started throwing Jellybeans (a confectionery eatable) on him. Zaheer would remove them from the pitch before facing a delivery, and next minute he would find yet another being thrown..... which undoubtedly enraged him. He had a couple of words with the English players & requested not to indulge in such things, & they started retaliating verbally. The umpires then came in (quite late, of course... were they BLIND when the English players were throwing Jellybeans on the batsmen and the pitch??? :O) Of course, the English players are shamelessly defending their stupid act by trying to make a joke of it, and also going on to say that it was "within the spirit of the game"..... UTTER CRAP!!!

Check these out for more details
(Sledgehammer - Mumbai Mirror)
(Zaheer reveals.... - Rediff.com)

Really disgusting to note that the English players are indulging in such cheap and unsporting tactics. Throwing jellybeans on a player, or on the pitch, with a deliberate intention to disturb his concentration....... Absolute Nonsense! And not just Zaheer, apparently they were targeting other Indian batsmen such as Sachin (calling him a "Captain's bunny"), Laxman (Sledging at him in Aussie lingo) & Sreesanth etc. (with his spectacles, he apparently looked like "Harry Potter" to them!!!), with verbal volleys and constant leg-pulling chatter. Really shameful to see such cheap behaviour from the English!

And the worst thing would be, that the ICC will fine ONLY Zaheer Khan at the end, for pointing his bat at Pietersen!! They are one shameless, Anti-Asian, & Anti-Indian body, who ALWAYS target & single out Indians and other Asian cricketers.

It is always been the case since time immemorial, that even if any of the white players (Aussie or English or any other) verbally or even physically abuse Indian players, they have always been let off, even without a warning or a fine! (Shocking, of course!!) But the Indians who tolerate their crazy behavior mutely, or max at times, stare back or retaliate mildly, have been fined or even banned for short periods. Surprising that the ICC thinks that the players at the receiving end are 'at fault' & should be 'punished', while the ones who do all the mistakes, and physically & verbally abuse in cheap manner, and behave in all unsporting ways possible, should be let off without even being questioned..... apparently they are doing a great service to the Gentleman's game by indulging in such behaviour, isn't it???

Examples galore, are there for the world to see (Michael Slater abusing Dravid; Dravid is fined..... Andre Nel abusing and gesturing to Sreesanth; Sreesanth is fined for the 'dance' etc....) Even earlier players like Sachin, Ganguly & many others, have been victims of ICC's double standards.

Really sad to see such unsporting and biased policies and the atrocities committed by the Global body that controls the sport (ICC). And also sad that the Indian board, inspite of being victimised time & again, hasn't retaliated or taken strong action against them. It just pays the fines, drops the concerned players & moves on.

I won't be surprised, if Zaheer Khan is handed over a BAN tomorrow, for a couple of matches for his 'behaviour' by the ICC. (As he's the in-form bowler, and ICC would love to save England from further damage in the series, by dropping him for the next test!!!) :D :P

BRAVO ICC!!! We are proud of you! :)

PS: Yes, heart of heart, I do desire, that in case of such an event happening, the Indian team must challenge the double standards of Cricket's Governing Body, and walk out of the series! Its time the ICC is hit back for its unsporting & biased acts, and the world realises the intensity of the situation!

Fake "Religious" ideologies??

WELL, here's something I'd shared on another online forum, regarding religion, religious ideologies & unwanted differences created in the name of religion.....

We were discussing about whether people from other faiths or religions should be 'allowed' in temples, and vice-verca....

I , for one, have very much visited "Haji Ali" Dargah, the "Mount Mary" Church in Mumbai, apart from various other places of worship of other religions.... across India. I'm a staunch believer in God, & find myself very much comfortable in visiting or praying at religious places run by ANY religion. Finally, all our prayers reach the same GOD, our one & only creator who runs the show here.... I see no point in discriminating over religion, definitely not, as far as praying is concerned!!

During college days, I used to visit the Hanuman temple in our college campus everyday. There were many of my friends, who were Christians, who used to come along with me just for eating the Prasadam (delicious edible offerings made to God, & distributed freely to people), & stand outside the temple & ask me to serve them the Chundal prasadam (delicious salty/spicy dish made from grams, garnished with chillies, coriander, mustard & coconut) over the fence.

Shameless enough, in my opinion! They just can't come inside, not even for the sake of taking the prasadam!! (NOTE: The temple had no rules prohibiting anyone from coming to the temple.... it was purely these friends' problem, that they refused to enter the temple, citing religion issues, while they relished the Prasadam shamelessly!)

And all throughout, I used to try & make them understand, that when I had no issues visiting Churches with them, why they must make such a big Fuss about the whole issue! Foolish Mentality! :sigh:

Restarting finally...

Hmmm.... its been ages, and its time to re-start my Blog..... something that has stood the test of time in proving my height of laziness.... :P

Each time I used to think of restarting, used to feel lazy to write, and then postpone it.... And then, invariably got damn busy with loads of activities, that never really found time to blog....

But, as my 'online' life was pretty active, and I was very much actively posting pretty long stuff on many online forums, I did a re-think on why must I not update my Blog similarly!! And with some bit of encouragement from friends, I decided to do the honours now!! ;)

'Inshallah'.... :) Shall keep posting now... do keep the comments coming! :)