Please help a fellow South Asian

Joining the bone marrow registry is not hard. I did it on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, it took about 20 minute total - filling out paperwork, swabbing inside of my cheek, closing up the envelope, handing it in, getting back into my car and then going on with my day.

I post this to please urge you all to register. Someone from our community needs our help, and it is up to us to rally behind him and provide the support he needs.

In addition, once you register, be aware that you may be called upon to help. Although it sounds scary, it is the step that needs to be taken to save a life. Please read about donating bone marrow to alleviate any apprehension. It is not an easy process, but remember, those suffering from the disease are having a much worse time then a donor will ever have donating.

Find a registry in your area.

Any other information you will need is available here.

It is a privilege, not a choice, to be able to help another human being.

Friday thoughts.

The first half of my day was frenzied. I had about 3 projects to do, all due at noon, and not one deadline was budging. So I begrudgingly turned "off" the Internet (except for g-mail) and finished it all. Then at lunchtime I walked to my favorite Japanese take-out, chatted with my mom during our daily lunch call* and then came back to another project. Yay. Finished (1 hr). I gleefully then fired up my Internet to surf my usual pop culture gossip sites. Yes, I am an addict, reading about celebrities (or pseudo-celebutantes) and how they make asses of themselves. Today's big news is how Ms. Hilton is going back to jail. That's it. That's all. Nothing else. Awesome. Isn't Lindsay Lohan doing anything crazy in rehab? Britney hasn't shaved her head yet? What, she's just hanging out with the kids in Hawaii?! Boring...


*During my call with my mom, we got to talking about Mamama. It is difficult to hear my mom grieve. And it's difficult because I'm not grieving anymore. I am at peace with her (Mamama) being gone; and it only happened because I believe that she came to me one day. A bit strange but here's how: at a recent Bal-Vihar (Sunday school of sorts for Hindu kids) prayer session, we said a particular prayer which was the first prayer I ever learned, which Mamama taught me. She was in my thoughts ("oh, this is the prayer that Mamama taught me...") as I said the prayer and then it happened. The strongest feeling took over me and as I closed my eyes, she was there. The feeling was so strong that it shook me, I opened my eyes and started looking around and my eyes welled up. After about a minute, I went back to praying.

Since that time, I've been at peace with her being gone. No more random cries and or sad thoughts. In a strange way, I've been at peace regarding a lot of things that were nagging me. No explanation as to how or why, but it is.