Karnataka State, situated in the Southern part of India is naturally richly endowed and that it is a beautiful place to live is a well-known fact. Eye-catching greenery, breath-taking mountain ranges, gorgeous water falls, tranquil rivers, expansive paddy fields, wonderfully laid out natural as well as man-made gardens, long stretches of seashore overlooking the Arabian Sea is the all-encompassing State of Karnataka.
Linguistically proliferate in five rich dialects of Kannada, Tulu, Kodava, Konkani & Beary – Karnataka boasts of a rich amalgam of traditional and the modern art and culture. Sculpting, traditional palace construction specialists, excelling in the art of ‘Vaastu Shilpa’ generously displayed in the hundreds and thousands of Temples, Mosques, Churches, dotted all over the State, seamlessly standing shoulder to shoulder all along the length and breadth of the State for centuries and the peace-loving citizenry spread across the Kannada Naadu. Karnataka State holds a pride of place in Education, Banking, Computer Technology, Culture, literature, Medical, Architecture & Engineering fields – its contribution to the world in all these fields is a well-established fact.
In their quest for exploring the world and spread his wings of professional excellence, Kannadigas landed in the United Arab Emirates over 3~4 decades ago and set up shop in several fields of trade, commerce, industry and education, without losing sight of his rich tradition of culture and social well-being of fellow Kannadigas and people hailing from the rich State of Karnataka. Kannada speaking people formed the Karnataka Sanghas, the Tuluvas joined hands and created the Tulu Koota. Not to be left behind, the Konkani, Kodava, Beary speaking people forming their own linguistic and colonial associations.
Without undermining the strict local rules and regulations and judiciously abiding by and strictly adhering to the generous and philanthropic guidelines laid out by the far-sighted Rulers of the Emirates, these associations organized various friendly forums, annual sporting activities, picnics, blood donation camps over the years. Ramadan, Idd, Diwali, Christmas and New Year celebrations are witnesses to the camaraderie built up around the people from different cultures and background.
In all these social activities, blood donation camps have become the single largest meeting point for various associations and have built up a reputation of being a dedicated group of people with the regional medical and blood collection centers right across the Emirates. Of these, Karnataka Sangha, Sharjah under the auspices of Indiana Association Sharjah,and Gulf Medical Hospital with the patronage of the Ministry of Health, Sharjah started its first Blood Donation Camp in 2006, at the Ajman Medical College Hospital. It was a great moment to see along with Indians, local Arabs, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Egyptians jostling with each other to donate blood and upholding the humanitarian spirit aloft.
The blood donation camp conducted under the aegis of Mogaveers, UAE on the UAE National Day – December 2, is a permanent landmark day dedicated to the cause of humanitarian service to the people of UAE for the last several years.
It is indeed very gratifying to see that the variety of cultural associations while actively pursuing their social, cultural and philanthropic activities have made Blood Donation Camp as one of their prime and most important annual activities. Several individuals are regular blood donors – donating once every three months and thus contributing and paying back their highest regard for their adopted land of ‘Karma Bhoomi’ – almost an equivalent of a place of worship, without the limitations of caste, creed, race and religion.
The Associations involved in this great movement of blood donation camps are:
Abu-Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, Dubai Karnataka Sangha, Sharjah Karnataka Sangha, Al-Ain Kannada Sangha, -UAE, Bunts, Mogaveers-UAE, Amchigele Samaja, Vishwakarma Sewa Samithi-UAE, Rama-Kshatriya Sangha-UAE, Dubai Billawas,, Billawa Balaga Dubai, Billawara Balaga-Abu-Dhabi, Kodagu Dakshina Kannada Samaja, Padmashali Samoodaya-UAE, Mitra Koota-UAE, Brahmana Samaja, Gaanigara Samaja, Devadiga Sangha-Dubai, Thiya Samaj UAE, Basava Samithi-UAE, Dhwani Prathisthana-UAE, Kundapura Devadiga Mitraru, Vokkaligara Sangha-UAE, Yaksha Mitraru, Kannada Koota, Mangalore Konkans, Konkan Bells, USWAS, Daiji Rang Mandir, Karavali Milan, Tulu pateruga Tulu oripaga and other Associations are actively participating in this great movement of blood donation camps, which has rightfully and quite appropriately gathered momentum in the last few years and has become an integral part of the regular course of social activities of all these associations.
Another important aspect of these donations is that an increasing no. of ladies are coming forward voluntarily in this great act of humanitarian need. The level of awareness that is spreading across the length and breadth of this country augurs well for the ever increasing demand for this rare ‘commodity’ for which unfortunately, there is no substitute to date.
The blood donation camp movement got further fillip with the extensive coverage given by many of the websites and the media, notable among them being – www.Daijiworld.com, www.kannadigaworld.com, www.mangalorean.com, www.media9.com, www.V4news.com, www.newskarnataka.com www.karavalimilan.com, www.vishwakannadiganews.com, www.shrivishwakarma.org, www.sahilonline.com, Radio Spice 105.4FM, Namma TV, Udayavani Kannada Daily etc. have been spear-heading the publicity blitz for this very deserving cause.
This write-up is an attempt to further give exposure to the yeoman services rendered by the variety of groups and associations enumerated above. At this juncture, we can do no more than to pray to the Almighty to give further strength and support to these associations to continue in their respective fields of excellence and work closely and united for this great Humanitarian Initiative.
