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The driving force

The father of Salsa in India, Lourd Vijay, and documentary filmmaker Raju Hittalamani talk about going on a road trip from Bengaluru to Ladakh to spread awareness about organ donation

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(Clockwise from left) Raju Hittalamani; Lourd Vijay; Chang La Pass, Ladakh; and Nigeen Lake, Srinagar
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Most people go on a road trip to get away from the routine or because they hear the mountains calling. But, for Lourd Vijay, a renowned choreographer and Salsa dancer from Bengaluru, it was a way to pass a favour forward. He is a chronic kidney disease survivor who was saved by a kidney transplant. So, he expressed his gratitude by taking a road trip from Bengaluru to Ladakh to spread awareness about organ donation. The journey has been captured as a documentary film, Anicca — Living Beyond the Body, directed by Raju Hittalamani of Kabes Media, who tells us that the name is a Pali word for impermanence.

How it began

After being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease four years ago and undergoing dialysis for two-and-a-half years, Vijay had a successful kidney transplant last year in March. “I was lucky it happened so quickly; people have waited for 10 to 35 years to get a match,” says Vijay, an avid motorhead who decided to use his passion for long drives to urge people to donate organs. “I’ve mostly driven in South and it was a dream to drive to Ladakh. So, while recovering, I decided to go on a fun drive with the awareness campaign as the objective,” says Vijay, who brought Salsa to India in 1998 and holds the Guinness World Record for maximum number of flips (39) a minute in the dance form.

Spreading hope

Vijay started a foundation called Spreading Hope, which has been working towards the cause of organ donation and has a mandate of setting up dialysis units in states that lack medical care. The drive, spanning 37 days, covered approximately 10,000 km across places like Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Agra. Accompanying Vijay and Raju were photographer and blogger Erica, and cinematographer and AD Vivian John, while Bhim Sharma helmed the film from Chennai to Mumbai. The quartet captured Vijay’s journey that includes interactions and activities in schools and universities and Rotary clubs, along with interviews with organ recipients and family members of donors.

Not an easy campaign

Because of the religious and social taboo associated with organ donation, the crew had a tough time getting donors. “People were generally appreciative of what we were doing but when asked to pledge organ donation, they’d want to ask their families first,” Raju says. However, help came from religious leaders in Delhi who busted the myth that any religion discourages organ donation.

Adventure and awareness

Vijay believes that adventure piques an onlooker’s interest and gets attention to the cause. “If you just go somewhere and interact with people, it will be like another workshop. But people get interested when there’s adventure involved,” he says. Combining the trip with a cause also made it a soul-stirring experience for him. “I could spend time by myself — it was me and the road,” he says. Raju couldn’t agree more. He says, “A trip anywhere should change you as a person in some manner, otherwise, what’s the point if you have remained the same?”

Keep on driving

“It was a nightmare to drive around Pangong Tso to Sarchu, Kargil, etc because of landslides but overall, it was a great trip,” Vijay says, adding that since the foundation largely depends on these drives for the cause, he plans to take a road trip every six months. They will soon head to Northeast India and are working on going to Cape Town in June or August this year to keep spreading hope everywhere.

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