Trying to do some good ....

Today was an interesting experience .... I had signed up to donate blood as part of a United Blood Drive in office. The sign-up form required me to identify all the countries I had been to since 1980. Since I was born in 1981, the list spanned my entire lifetime. It was fun to revisit the memories of all the places I have been to. So with that general frame of mind, I fetched-up at the camp and was directed to a technician who conducted the general physical exam. The exam was painless and quick. Then began an onslaught of questions ... that went on forever. The fact that I was an Indian, who had lived in several places within India and also travelled a fair amount within Europe and South East Asia in the last 6 years did not help matters. She got a quick little tour of northern India, trying to track all the places I had been to on an atlas, and identify what their elevation was, etc.

The sad part was that at the end of all this, it was identified that because I had jaundice after the age of 11, I am barred from donating blood forever. While I have regretted having that gol-guppa at Pragati Maidan on several occassions, which most probably led to my getting jaundice. I think I felt most miserable today.

I guess sometimes even when we try to help ... we are unable to do so.