13 June,2011 06:46 AM IST | | Surekha S
An example of the Butterfly Effect, in Chaos Theory, states that the flutter of a butterfly's wings in China could impact weather conditions as far away as New York, in theory. On the eve of world Blood Donor Day, meet the man who put the theory into practice in his own life
The anguish of the relatives of a deceased patient at 3 am, one morning, in 1991, led the 43-year-old Khushroo Poacha one step towards his true calling. "My grandmother had been admitted in the hospital, when I heard people screaming at the doctor, blaming him for the passing away of a loved one. I later found out that the hospital had been unable to arrange for blood," says the ex-railway office superintendent.
"My wife and I decided we needed to do something," says Khushroo, who had his 'Eureka moment' inside a cyber caf ufffd. "In those days, everyone was making a website, which is when I decided to develop one to facilitate blood donations," says the founder of Indianblooddonors(.com). The site, founded in 2000, today lists over 50,000 registered blood donors, and has helped facilitate thousands of successful donations since its inception.
Early days
It took a while, however, to move from inspiration to execution, as Khushroo had to first buy the domain, and then get someone to develop the site. The site was eventually launched in March 2000. "I put a small advertisement in the newspaper. I remember it cost us Rs 5,000, which was a lot for us at the time," says Khushroo, adding, "We did not get a single donor on the first day."
Responses started to trickle in over the next few days. The turning point, however, would be a year later, in 2001, post the Gujarat earthquake, when 4,000 people would register themselves in response to a ticker advertising their website on a local news channel.
Blood on call
"In 2005, when I was giving a talk at IIM A, a student asked me about the people for whom the Internet is not accessible. That was when I decided to start the SMS helpline," says Khushroo. Now, to register oneself as a donor or to contact voluntary donors, all one has to do is send an SMS. "It is the first of its kind initiative. You can get blood at 50 paise," he adds.
In the last year, over 13,000 patients have been put in touch with voluntary donors through the website. Says a proud Khushroo, "I wanted to prove that to do good work, one does not need a lot of money or support. All you need is intention."
