A total of 277 people pledged their organs at the Rose Festival in Chandigarh on Sunday. Advertising The ‘Be an Organ Donor; Be a Hero’ campaign was launched at the three-day festival by the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (TOTTO) of PGIMER. Professor Vipin Koushal, nodal officer, ROTTO, said, “Awareness is the first step towards a change of attitude. So tapping opportunities like this one helps in connecting with the community and making people percieve it (organ donation) as a normal thing.” The ROTTO’s stall saw a huge crowd every time artists from the Utsav Kala Manch presented a street play on the theme of organ donation. Advertising Hitesh Aggarwal, who had lost his mother to kidney failure, got emotional as he said, “I urge everyone to come forward and pledge your organs so that others don’t lose their dear ones.” The cause was able to garner enough traction among visitors. One Raj Singh from Lucknow said his mother and brother have already pledged their organs which inspired him to do the same. Simran Preet Singh, a regular blood donor, not only pledged his organs but also also motivated his relatives to register for the cause. Kamlesh Aggarwal, an officer with an insurance company, who did the same, said, “Something so good has come out of my visit to the Rose Fest.” Sukhchain Singh from Sirsa, who is already registered as an organ donor, praised ROTTO PGIMER for the initiative. Sushant Shankar Dass said, “At least we will be able to save some lives, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.” The maximum queries posed to cousellors at the ROTTO PGIMER stall pertained to ethical practices, expenses involved, difference between organ and body donation and the process of transplantation. Meanwhile, anchors Anoop and Aditya Sharma entertained the crowd as they went about hunting for talent. Their enthusiasm soon rubbed off on people who could be seen queuing up to sing, dance, mimic, recite poetic and rap. Tribute to CRPF martyrs The last day of 47th Rose Festival at Rose Garden, Sector 16, witnessed a huge footfall and it was wound up with a classical music tribute to the CRPF martyrs, who sacrificed their lives during Pulwama terror attack. Swar Ragini mestro Pt Subhash Ghosh performed various numbers, including “Vaishnav Jan ko tere kahiye re…”, “E-vatan, e vatan.. hamko teri kasam”, “Ye desh hai veer javaano ka…” and “Ekla Chaalo Re…”. Advertising UT Adviser Manoj Kumar Parida paid homage to the CRPF martyrs at the “Amar Jawaan”.

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