The red gold.

"Your boss is surely going to fire you one of these days" Kalpana predicted.

He chuckled, enveloped her from behind,

and said "And to what will I owe that pleasure Miss ?"

"You're late, almost everyday, If I were your boss, I'd fire you" she said, and kissed him while fixing his crooked tie.

"Is Gian ready ? I'll leave him at the crutch on my way"

"Yes he is, don't drive too fast. Love you."

A half an hour later, Kalpana received a call from the local hospital. Her husband had died, due to lack of availability of his rare blood group AB-, in the same fatal accident that had left her 3 year old crippled for life.

*****

"Papa, do we really need the needle this time also ?" She pleaded with her pale eyes and her limp hand reached for her father's.

"Yes dear, but I promise it will hurt less" he reassured her firmly.

The nurse struggled a little to find a vein and then pierced her tiny hand with a needle that would give her one more month to live. She was suffering from an inherited single gene disorder, Thalassemia. 

This little girl needs 30 units of blood
every month.

*****

What would have happened if Kalpana's husband would have received the blood that he needed in time ? What would happen if this little girl's father had some way of knowing that he didn't have to worry about arranging blood for his daughter every month ? Things would be different. Their lives would be different. To have someone you love, die in a bed because the hospital ran out of their blood type is the kind of feeling that follows you to your grave. 

A special mention to applaud Franklin Templeton Investments in their brilliant initiative to bring about a change. I've seen all the videos that were provided at the Idea Caravan Site. I can't say I wasn't moved by the others, but I chose this particular one because I could actually, practically join the cause and make a difference, rather than just voicing my views about it on my blog.

We tweet all day long, visit our friend's profiles on Facebook, like pictures, pitch in witty comments. I would like to thank Karthik Naralasetty for thinking outside the box and creating a platform for emergency blood needs that saves lives. He has created a Facebook group where people can post their emergency blood needs with the required blood group and interested donors can reply to the requests as they please. I haven't seen a much better use of social media till date. 

Visit http://www.socialblood.org/ now and save a life.

Written for the IndiBlogger Contest : Franklin Templeton Investments partnered with TedXGateway Mumbai - An Idea by Karthik Naralasetty.