Tagged!!.. 8 random facts about myself...

The RULES:
1. Post these rules
2. Each person tagged must post 8 random facts about themselves
3. Tags should write a journal/ blog of these facts
4. At the end of the post 8 more persons are tagged and named 5. Go to their page and leave a comment telling them they're tagged.

Well, Preets has tagged me.... and it was a long time ago... and finally am here..... to ramble 8 random facts about myself...

So...
1. I am a last minute guy! right since childhood - have done everything at the last minute, from studying for exams to filling up critical forms to packing up stuff when the flight is just about to depart in a few hours - even international ones :-D
2. I hate the color pink :-D i dunno why but i zimbbbly hate it..
3. I am afraid of syringes!!!!! I can take a stitch anywhere on my body without flinching, but i can't stand syringes!
4. I love to read Tinkle comics, Archies, and Hardy Boys :-D
5. I love nature - like go out and see new places..... and i love dogs.....
6. I love rains! The best season ever!!
7. I am sometimes very emotional!
8. I give a lot of importance to friends in my life...and i've developed this recent thing for photography :-D i go on clicking.....

Well, i dont want to tag anyone because whoever i know of in the blogging world have already been tagged and those who havent been, i dont wanna disturb them!...

Impact Day...

6:00 A.M, 8th June 2007; A room in Hyderabad:

<ding ding dong dong dang dang doonng dooong> hold on! before u long jump (or high jump) into conclusions, let me tell you that the sound you just heard was the SMS ring tone that rang in my ears early morning one fine day (it was no longer fine - post the ding ding dong dong...). The SMS read "Good Morning! Are you ready to make an impact? See you at the office at 7 a.m." - an SMS from my Office (the name stays hidden for i am not advertising my office here!..)

"IMPACT DAY 2007"
...we did act, to make an Impact!

- these were the words that were written on the concert-type stage that was erected for the closing ceremony of Impact Day 2007 at my work place. Before i elaborate more on the closing ceremony, i would like to go into the flash back mode (Gee! Thanks to the present day movies,flashback is the "in" thing!) - to how the Impact Day begun, how the day shaped up, and how we impacted others (or - for the better part of the day - got impacted by others). When i first heard of "Impact Day" - it was something like just any other day for me - albiet, with some add-ons such as special t-shirts, wrist bands, free food, and one common cause that mattered (whether it mattered or not - did not matter to me..). As the day came closer, there was so much of buzz about and around it in the form of advertising, posters, roll-downs, pamphlets, and email-teasers. Eighth June it was - a day set apart for each of the 4600 professionals of our firm to leave our work aside and dedicate one whole day of efforts for the society - to make an impact! This one day of efforts involved countless days of planning and coordination.

6:30 A.M, 8th June 2007; the same room in Hyderabad:

"Hey Viv, how do i look?", i asked my roommate after having put on the special t-shirt for the day, the wrist band, and my favorite cargos. He replied with a smirk "You look like a school boy (stressing on the words "school boy") just like the other school booys and girls who will come to office today". That was his response to the special blue t-shirt for the day and everyone had to wear the same one! I shrugged because there was no other emotion that better expressed my helplessness.

7:00 A.M; Office campus, Hyderabad:

"Whoa! We're going on a picnic?", that was the obvious reaction anyone would have had after seeing so many buses lined up and banners adorning the fronts and sides of the buses and cabs...Food packets, water bottles, and a sea of people - all dressed in blue t-shirts!

Well, i am not chronicling the events of the day - i have something more important to discuss and deliberate upon:

There were 24 threads - each dealing with some noble cause and impacting some strata of the soceity or the environment and i chose to pick up something that was named "Live-On" and this was supposed to deal with spreading awareness about organ donation. It was not because i was so empathatic about organ donation that i joined this thread, but just because my friends asked me to... but little did i know that this Impact Day was actually going to impact my mind....

I chose not to harp upon the magnitude of the event (4600 employees, the impact, the reach out, the logistics, the transport - all of them broke the Limca Book of Records) but i want to speak on how the day impacted me... and so goes the story:

Our location was the famous exhibhition grounds in Nampally (Hyderabad). And that place was chosen for a valid reason - the annual fish medicine event was going on the very same exhibhition ground. Our job? Was to spread awareness amongst people who had come with the hope of a better future and good-riddance from Asthma and all sorts of breathing ailments they suffered. And to them, we were going to preach about organ donation! I could see Irony - in bold letters!! Irony, withstanding, we started our efforts armed with knowledge about organ donation, few organ donation forms and cards, and some enthusiasm, which was already dwindling - once we saw the magnitude of people there.

We set up our counter with that of colleagues from another thread who were distrbuting food and water packets. Our stall was thronged with people and within 5 minutes of our opening the stall we had people lined up as far as you could see! Smiles on our faces! - i didnt know they would be short lived, because all they wanted was free food packets and water and no one wanted to even hear about organ donation - forget donating one!! We tried a lot to convince people. We broke ourselves into groups with each group having atleast one person who knows one regional language and we started approaching people instead of waiting for them to come to us. Some curious person would stop by once a while raising our hopes but as that person would know what our (hidden) agenda was, they would just walk away.. I just told my friends enough of looking for hope here lets get on the road! So 5 of us, we hit the road!! Like the sales and marketing guys who set out on their foot, we set out to market Organ Donation. Many gave us "dont-you-dare-approach-me-you-blue-t-shirt-guy/girl" looks! But we went on and trusted our instinct to stop people politely and explain to them what we were doing and would they be interested in knowing more. We went on with this till around 4 in the evening...

Some interesting events that happened:

We were so surprised - Sweepers and Rickshaw drivers were more receptive as compared to others! We went to a mall and asked several well-to-do and educated looking folks if they'd be interested but they just brushed us off and walked away. And at the same mall a sweeper, we asked him and he was more than willing to listen to us and he donated his eyes too! Similarly we approached people going in cars but no one obliged. However, the autorickshaw driver we were traveling in was more than happy to donate and take some cards from us to distribute it amongst his friends and family :-)

Some more interesting events:

There were few businessmen in a busy lane and all they wanted was talk to us, take the goodies we were offering, but not commit anything about organ donation. And they even called their friends who were around to come and pick up few goodies!

A girl from our group of college going kids and started talking to them about organ donation. And when she asked them, would you like to be a part of this - one of them immediately replies, "I can't give you any of my organs, but i can sure give you my heart!"... he he he....

It is only when we got back from our locations to the office for the closing ceremony and heard of the experiences our colleagues had, we realized the magnitue of the event and how it touched everyone. Everyone had an experience to share - a experience that touched them... i came back pledging my organs... someone, somewhere, will benefit and while i am gone, i will still live on...