One Kidney Is Enough
By Seema Govil
“One Kidney is enough”- this Kidney month Anil’s story will tell you how.
NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Indian-American Anil Srivatsa, donated a kidney to his brother in 2014. Ever since he has become what he never planned on being – a champion of organ donation.
He started Gift of Life Adventure, which is a series of overland expeditions aimed at spreading organ donation awareness. By driving around the world to promote awareness, he said the hope has been to encourage people to start a conversation on the subject.
“Love was the reason I went through what I did for my brother. In my opinion, love is the only reason anyone would donate an organ to somebody else — love for somebody you know personally or love for helping a stranger in need. Love is the only thing,” he says.
Srivatsa has driven across 43 countries, burned rubber over 100K km, been on the road for over 400 days, and shared his story with over 73,000 people. His adventure sees him live and cooks in his car unless there is kind folk who offer him and his wife Deepali, a warm bed or hot food.
In the hundreds of talks, he has given at schools, colleges, Rotary Clubs, community centers and offices, he speaks of the fears associated with kidney the donation, a not so uncommon sentiment in many and also details the legal and procedural issues that plague organ donation around the world. Srivatsa also busts religious and superstitious myths.
A man with a passion, he is the source of a wealth of real-life stories, accumulated during his travels and encounters with people from all walks of life.
Srivatsa used to be the host of Limca book record-holding syndicated radio talk show across America from 1997-2006 called “Anil-ki-Awaaz.” He moved to India, in 2007 as the COO of an FM network owned by the India Today Group and then went on to become the CEO of Kings XI Punjab, the IPL team. Today, he is the co-founder of Radiowalla.in You can invite Anil to your city, university, club for a talk. Here are the topics that he will address:
- How he dealt with all the fears associated with organ donation
- The Journey through the legal and procedural issues that plague Organ Donation around the world
- Speaking about concerns that only first-hand interactions with a living donor can help address.
- What it takes to truly become an organ donor by throwing light on what happens after you sign up.
- He deals with religious and superstitious myths that surround Organ Donation, and busting them would help save lives.
Srivatsa also runs and manages Gift of Life Adventure, which is now a 501 c 3 charitable
foundation. His journeys are corporate and crowdfunding. You can help fund his efforts by looking for Gift of Life Adventure on GoFundme or find him on @giftoflifeadventure on Instagram and Facebook. For more information please visit www.giftoflifeadventure.org.
To read Srivatsa’s story please visit http://about.me/anilsrivatsa.
