TO WHOM IT IS NEEDED

SAVING KARTHIK

There is hardly any life that has not seen death. I, too, am no exception.

That day when right before my eyes, my friend’s uncle vomited blood and died, I experienced with horror the brutal nature of death like never before. At that time, being dependent on my father for almost anything that required money, I had no other choice but to be a silent spectator to that incident. So, the jobless artist died. And I lost a very dear friend and guide.

The bond that developed between us exists even today without caring a darn about the distance that separates the two people living in the two different worlds. And with him, a hope lives in my heart. Hope – that one day, I would be able to stand beside at least one life like him...

When Vandana started telling me about the boy for whom this post is being initiated, I was having the same feeling – a feeling of helplessness that gripped me some years back. Karthik is a “20 year old boy” who is known to one of the purest and noblest souls of CCI – Varahi. The boy has a brain tumor. He has to undergo endovascular embolization – a medical procedure to cure the disease that would cost around 5 lakh rupees (by 2011 estimates) by 15^th July, 2012. He comes from too poor a family to bear with such exorbitant sum. And this time too, I am not in a position to play the role of a savior all by myself.

But when she told me about the idea of CMA. CS. Sanjay Gupta, I saw light at the end of this dark tunnel – my feeling of helplessness. It has been his idea to appeal to the CCItes for donating money - whatever amount they can donate – in an effort to save the boy’s life. Of course, the CACLUBINDIA with such huge number of members has the potential to become revolutionary platform in discharging our social responsibilities. For the sake of argument, if we assume that only 3-5% members are active and they are willing to donate according to their financial status, - in future, not just this boy but many like him will owe their lives to these members of this truly great platform.

We had to exercise great caution regarding the validity of the case for two obvious reasons – money and trust. Money lost can be earned but the same is rarely true for trust. Several times over the past 2-3 weeks, Varahi contacted the family of the boy in order to collect all the relevant documents (attached herewith) that may prove that the case is a genuine one. Another member of CCI from Chennai – Eklavya, after checking the above captioned documents, has confirmed the same to be genuine. As he didn’t know about Karthik beforehand, his confirmation has added more neutrality and validity to the cause.

There is a technical problem though -

Depositing the cash to the said SBI bank account will attract minimum charges of Rs 25. So the person who are willing to contribute may raise the funds from their end and deposit the amount in the account mentioned herein above or may get the funds transferred without any charges using the online fund transfer facility. It will be very difficult to deposit the amount individually because if someone wants to contribute say Rs. 50 then he will have to pay charges of Rs 25 for depositing the amount. So Members are also requested to suggest us some other methods through which more people can contribute for this cause. 

But, as I have known the respected senior members of CCI and also my friends, sisters and brothers over the last one year, such a problem would not deter them from being a part of this mission to save a life.

With this hope and belief I remain for the moment.

Regards,

Sourav Banerjee