Drops that bond

It is a well-established fact that a nation’s army is the pride of people living in a country; it is the case for India as well. When it comes to any matter related to our nation’s army, the Indian public wears their hearts on their sleeves.

In order to honour the Indian army and contribute for the cause, ‘7th Shaurya blood connect’ was organised in the capital by ‘I am still Human’, a Delhi-based NGO. The initiative, which has proven to be a huge success, saw active participation from Indian Army veterans, students, professors, faculty and management of the Ramjas College.

Over 300 blood units were collected by the Medical team of the Indian Army, which will be specifically used for the welfare of veterans, serving soldiers, officers and their dependents at various Military Hospitals across the nation.

"This campaign was originally conceived when we realised that people really didn’t have the idea that the pathological department of the armed forces needs regular blood supply. We wanted to help them. So, for us, it was really difficult to convince people that the Indian army, in reality, is involved in it and the Army will use the entirety of the donated blood," shares, Vivek Mehra, Founder, I am still Human.

"A lot of people are now connecting with us, now that they have another way to make a contribution to the armed forces. This is something far better than just posting on twitter about them with random hashtags," Vivek adds.

 To show solidarity with armed forces, a bike rally was also organised. It comprised of over 70 female & 400 plus male professional riders. Also, a mega tree plantation drive was held in the memory of our nation’s 21 Param Vir Chakra (PVC) awardees, wherein Army veterans planted 21 special trees in separate grounds of the campus, which has been named as ‘The ground of PVCs’. Each tree has been given a name of PVC awardees and Army veterans planted 2000 more trees at the north campus.

Vivek, who came from an army background, explains how he landed upon the idea of organising the campaign, "One of my cousins who was posted in Siachen got Thalassemia. That’s when I came across similar cases, where army recruits required medical treatment. Then I decided to make my contribution to the army."

Lt Gen. K J Singh shares, "It is a nice initiative by these children. I have seen many people who have given flowers to army personnel, which I feel is a wrong way because I believe giving flowers in itself is a harmful gesture towards the environment." He further goes on to explain, " I feel donating blood is more useful because members of the army are always in need of blood." "This initiative will also create a strong bond between the army and the civilians," he concluded.