Three months on, it was time again for CATS to shed some weight.
CAT Arun was already filling the form in by the time I reached the blood bank. CAT Neerja took out CATS banner from her closet along with the badges which she had kept safely for us since our January blood donation camp. CAT Deepinder was delegated the job of getting our banner up, which this time took the place of pride at the entrance foyer of IPD. CAT Neerja took charge of the reception desk at the blood bank, after having taken a day off, so that she could fully devote her uninterrupted time to CATS. We were pleasantly surprised to see CAT Vishal K trooping in with 5 students of CIHM in tow. We were in business already :-)
Dr Gursimran was next to donate, who had come ALL THE WAY from Jammu (!!). Picture of benevolence, our Rtn Babbi Ji arrived soon and took charge of the resposibility of refreshements. Our Elusive CAT Charanjeet delighted us by bringing in three of his employees to donate blood. This was indeed getting heady. CAT Ashok joined us for a while to cheer us up. Rtn Arvind Mehan (President of Rotary Club of Chandigarh) also decided to join CATS for Heartline. However, he insisted that he be fed first before he gives blood. Rtn Manmohan Singh and Rtn Kewal Seth also dropped by. Rtn Madhu Handa was in for a shock when I literally grabbed her by her arm as she was walking towards the blood bank and coerced her to give blood. We were leaving nothing to chance. We wanted blood and we were not discriminating :-)
CAT Paramjeet came in soon, followed by CAT Hemant and CAT Kapil. He also got his friend Sushil in a true Catty spirit. The less said about CAT Aradhika, the better, for she really does not give you a chance to get a word in anyway. Our camp would have been so dull without her incessant chirping. This is about the time when our camp started getting livelier!
CAT Vasu arrived and left the column of 'Blood Group' blank on his form. During his medical whilst we were discussing various blood groups, he told the nurse to fill 'Universal Receipient' in his record sheet since that sounded such a good deal to miss upon, regardless of what his actual blood group was! He then had to be fed prior to bleeding since he had not eaten anything. CAT Rahat was also sent packing before he could give blood. It was heart warming to see a couple of Fortis employees walking in by themselves after seeing our blood donation banner. Nobody had requested/forced/coerced/bribed them to do so. Their spirit humbled us all.
It was lunch time and I noticed CAT Reenu sitting in the reception of blood bank. We were overjoyed to know that the rest of the 5 people sitting alongside were her colleagues, who had decided to sacrifice their lunch hour for CATS and Heartline. This indeed was our soldier CAT at work. Whilst CAT Reenu's gang were at their best behaviour, CAT Ashish A walked in with CAT Gopika. And we all know what happens when CAT Ashish A is around :-)
He simply lit up the place with his smile. Since it was lunch hour, I had to ensure that they had eaten before any blood could be taken. I asked a simple question off him, 'Have you eaten?' CAT Ashish A shot back promptly, 'Khaan hee te aaye haan!' If this was not enough, now add CAT Rahat. He had already had lunch with CAT Paramjeet, given the blood and was still found eating a samosa and drinking lassi. Our famished CAT Neerja asked for a bite and he said (with a full belly), 'Jo bachega woh de doonga!' CAT Reenu's gang of 5 did not know what to do with CATS. At first they were giggling but soon they had no choice but to burst into peels of laughter with our two merry CATS pulling a fast one on each other, nineteen to a dozen.
CAT Anu A brought in a colleague whilst CAT Aditi can be credited to drag along CAT Uday and CAT Sourabh. CAT Deepinder came when he got free from work and CAT Neerja encouraged Dr Ashwin Garg to owe allegiance to CATS by giving blood first! CAT Jasmit came with his 'Vohatee' Jasmine who celebrated their matrimonial alliance by donating blood together. CAT Paramjeet however has lost his title of being a 'Sober' CAT. He enquired from CAT Jasmine if she knew Punjabi and she unfortunately responded in affirmative. He immediately thurst a medical history form to her, typed in Punjabi!! She was seen toiling over it well after others had finished filling theirs ;-)
By the end of the day, CATS and their friends/colleagues had donated 35 units for the Heartline project. However, as last time, CATS kept going to Fortis the following day too. RK Sharma was our 36th donor. CAT Navpreet also donated with CATS as the beneficiary. However, as soon as I got to know that his aunt was admitted in Fortis for a surgery and needed 4 units of blood, I immediately instructed the blood bank to transfer CAT Navpreet's unit from CATS to his aunt and I told him that his usual band of 3 employees should also donate for his aunt rather than CATS this time.
We close our 2nd Blood Donation with a count of 36 units and I thank each one of you, who made an effort to come to Fortis for donating blood, which would help a little heart patient get better during/after the surgery. So many of you skipped your lunch hour. CAT Paramjeet had come only for a couple of hours, but ended up staying for the day and even dropping me home thereafter. Rtn. Babbi Ji spent the whole day ensuring that each donor went well fed after the donation. CAT Neerja took care of all the paperwork, certificates and pinning throughout the day.
If some of the old blood donor CATS were found to be missing in action, it was a joy to see a lot of new CATS standing tall to contribute. We must recognise the effort made by all the deferred CATS too who came with the best wishes for Heartline children.
THREE MEOWS to CATS.
CAT Supreet
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