We probably would have seen a thalassaemia free world sooner than later. Yet wishes make a difference in attitude, aspiration and resolution.

32 years ago, we, a group of bewildered but  determined parents of thalassaemics, got together and formed The Thalassaemia Society of India, and wished to continue our crusade aganist thalassaemia.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then – churning, chastening & cherishing wishes. A toddler yesterday has become a man or woman of consequence. A seemingly hopeless situation has given rise to a haven with immense possibilities.

The other day I was reading a book by Paola Coelho called Aleph  and came aross the reference of Chinese bamboos. Not that I didn’t know about Chinese bamboos, but the very context made me sit back and think about beloved society.

To grow a Chinese bamboo tree, you take a littler seed, plant it, water it and  fertilize for a whole year and nothing happens. You continue to water and fertilize it for second, third & fourth year and nothing happens. But if you have the perseverance and continue it, sometime during the fifth year, the Chinese bamboo tree sprouts and grows ninety feet in six weeks.

Perseverance is a crucial differentiator to realize your wishes. And in our society we have been full of patience and thus with fond reminiscence. We have garnered our strength to combat this battle with your blessings & support and we have nurtured our dreams for a thalassaemia free world as well as to encourage every thalassaemics to stride forward to contribute meaningfully to the society at large.

Today, many of our children have engaged themselves in services like health, engineering, IT, judiciary, and education amongest others. Some have found their partners to tie the nuptial knots and brought in this world their children who are not thalassaemia patients. With relevant infrastructural support, their mobility is not restricted any more.  Hence one can purse his dream career of pfotography in Mumbai or IT in Hydrabad or simply raise her family with husband and child in Lucknow.

Thus the growing thalassaemics today have hopes in their heart and wishes in their mind to live and to behold their dreams come true.

Yet we have “miles to go before we sleep”. The thalassaemics today need safer blood through Nucleic Acid Testing(NAT) & properly cross matched for antibody. Such facilities need to be introduces by blood banks in concurrence with relevent authorities and we sincerely feel that it would happen soon.

Continuous research in this area has been opening up new windows of possibilities and the society endeavours to remain contemporary.

The need of the hour, at this crosseoad of hopes & happening, is for people at large to understand the real plight of the thalassaemics – that thalassaemia is more of an aberration than an ailment, that thalassaemics can lead a normal life, be a spouse to any normal person and enjoy a happily married life. On the falling star we wish that enlightenment would prevail and the dreams of the morrow would be realized.