Could You Please Help Vinay?

It's 4.45 in the morning and I can't sleep much. It's not the humidity or the persistent noise of the air-conditioner. It's random thoughts that I figure I should simply post here.

This is supposed to be a blog about my wedding photography, but I can't limit it to that anymore. You see I believe all people are connected together, in various degrees. So what happens to your cousin's father-in-law's second brother does trickle down and affect me and you in some impercitible way. I am not sure where I got that from, but perhaps I am a sentimentalist. I gety misty-eyed when I watch the ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where families with just about nothing left to their name are given a second chance in a new home. I am going out on a limb here to say that I have never been for the war in Iraq, but I have always been for the warriors, our soldiers. So, when I read about a dad or mom who after their long tour-of-duty surprises their kid at school, I am a sap; I bawl. But what gets me most is when I hear about a 20-year old soldier with full of promise, is no more because of where she or he was. How can one not be filled with sadness when you are told something like that?

Closer to home, there is my cousin Vinay. A doctor at 27 and about to start a grueling residency program in Orthopedics, Vinay was recently diagnosed with leukemia. To my mind, it simply doesn't compute. Vinay, even till about last week, and well past four rounds of chemotherapy, was hitting the gym on a regular basis. He is athletic, playing baseball and basketball with the kind of vigor and enthusiasm that often astounded me. He also recently married Rashmi, a So-Cal gal also on the rise as a medical doctor. I had a part in introducing the two of them several years ago and I was thrilled that Vinay had asked Rashmi to marry him. When you look at them in person or pictures, you just know that they are meant to be together.

Well, despite the chemo sessions which are none too pleasant with a slew of side effects, Vinay's leukemia has returned. His only option now is a bone marrow transplant. I posted about this on my other blog, Tiffinbox, but I would like to urge you here (especially if you are South Asian) to register to be a volunteer bone marrow donor so that you can save a life.

There is some urgency to the matter. We need to find a donor within the next six weeks. Could you please help me?

To find out more please visit Help Vinay, a blog being published by Vinay's immediate family. If there is an upcoming donor drive near a city you live in, could you please take the time to go and register yourself? It's a painless procedure of filling in some forms and using a swab to take a sample of your saliva from the inside of your mouth.

Other blogs that have addressed this are SAJAForum, Sepia Mutiny and UberDesi.

Please step up!