The 'Chain' of Unknown

Raj was lazying on his sofa after finishing his work for the day. It has been a frustrating period of Work from Home since past 2-3 months due to Covid -19 situation. 

Just then the phone buzzed and a Whatsapp message popped. It was message from his good friend, Suraj - "Urgently need A -ve blood. If you have any reference, please contact Mr. Suraj, phone number xxxxxxxxx, Get Well Hospital". Raj was zapped and immediately called Suraj to ask the whereabouts.

Suraj explained Naresh met with an accident and was in urgent need of blood. Naresh had A -ve blood group. Since the blood group was rare, he was finding it difficult to get the blood bags. Moreover, all the blood banks ran out of blood during the Covid-19 days. Suraj hung up the phone requesting Raj to check out for any availability through his contacts.

Raj swung into action. He was a part of few socially active group which had regular blood donors as members. He immediately forwarded the Whatsapp message  across the groups hoping for some responses instantly. But alas!!! Whatsapp group responds to jokes or rumours instantly but genuine messages get ignored or people find it difficult to respond. Half an hour passed but still no reply from anyone. The reason might be the rare blood group or even the fear of Corona.

Without wasting further time, Raj picked up his phone and started calling his associates from school, college, building asking for help. Not only Suraj but many of his friends started doing the same as Naresh was a happy go lucky chap and common friend of many of them.

Just then, Arjun called up Raj to inform him that one of his associates was A -ve who was ready to donate. Without wasting time, Raj connected Arjun's associate with Suraj and donation was arranged. The need for blood was fulfilled.

During this period of one hour, at least coordinates of 200+ people were touched. Each one desperately trying to save a human life. The notable part is many of them did not know Naresh in person but everyone just knew one person who is next to him in this large Chain of Unknowns.

Not only during blood donation, Raj had encountered this magic of Chain of Unknowns at various stages during Covid Relief Work he was associated with. In the initial days of lockdown, there would be demand for food from one corner of the city and the help arrived from different end of the city. Both the recipient and the giver never knew each other and there would be no relationship whatsoever.  It was always funnily discussed amongst the group members - "What a Strange world, what a strange work we are experiencing - An unknown person initiates a request for someone else, the chain of unknowns swings into action through a sea of people and finally, the person who delivers the help does not know the recipient as well".  Everyone would smile and feel happy for being a contribution in this work done. A small share from his side for Mankind.

Meanwhile the phone buzzed again, this time with the confirmation message from Suraj that donor reached blood bank and donation would be done soon, Raj went back to his sofa listening to old songs and enjoying extended Corona Holidays!!!

#Mindspeak

ca_vishu_sir

02/08/2020