Like every other vacation I have had, the first thing I planned to start with after completing MS surgery exams, was reading books. My husband quickly suggested me his favourite book- Mahabharata to begin with. As I kept getting engrossed in the story I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with the flow of the story, the philosophy and most importantly the life lessons which hold relevance even centuries after the epic tale was written. The perseverance of Arjun, righteousness of Yudhishtir, staunch resolution of bhishma, loyalty of karna are many qualities that made them stand apart.

I came across the story where Karna gave away his kavach kundal to Lord Indra in spite of knowing that it might lead to his death ultimately. Somehow that story stuck in my mind and I kept pondering on the same. There couldn’t be a better example of a donor than this, could corothere? It is said-

Dignity is obtained by donating, not by accumulating wealth. The clouds who give away water stand high, whereas the sea who just gathers it stays

13th of August was also world organ donation day and many doctors had posted it’s importance and urged people for the same. A person who donates his organs can save up to 8 lives and heal lives of 75 others by tissue culture. Is there a better way to do a selfless good deed? Dalai Lama once said,
“My religion is very simple, my religion is kindness”.

With the advent of new technology and knowledge, grafting and transplantation of many organs has become possible. The uptake of harvested organs have also improved with newer drugs making the surgery much more successful than previous. Even long term preservation of skin grafts and cornea have made it possible to use it at a later date. WHO team has come up with a statistic that states – globally around 130000 solid organs are transplanted and although the number seems impressive, it represents less than 10% of the global need. Hence organ donation is an important cause which needs to be talked about in this country.

More and more public education and appeal to their emotional aspect and triggering their benevolence is of key importance. Best time to create an impact on the minds would be in school age. Introduction to organ donation, it’s importance, it’s effect on the lives of people should be taught to them. Some skits or cartoons can be used to explain this sensitive topic. Doctors and paramedics can take up the pledge to make a difference through their writings, poems, social media. The accessibility of skin banks or eye donation banks etc. in every city are the need of the hour. Connecting the donor’s relatives with letters of thanks from the recipient will change the way people look at death and organ donation. A committee can be established in every multi speciality hospital that can be devoted to counselling the relatives of the dead. Short films on organ donation should be encouraged and shared on the social media and television and radio. Religious leaders must be involved to talk about this topic. Only when there is education, motivation, empathy, accessibility, religious acceptance that this cause can achieve its desired goals.