These past few weeks I’ve been grappling with exactly what Sepia Mutiny has meant to me in the past six years I’ve written for the site and have been playing musical montages in my head of my favorite moments. Six years – longer than any job or relationship I’ve ever had. This site provided a much needed space to dialogue and develop the South Asian American identity and, in many ways, set the benchmark with how the community voiced ourselves. I always approached blogging on this site with three things in mind – 1) write about the Desi-American experience, the narrative I was yearning for, 2) a 1:1 ratio of pop to politics posts, and 3) find the marginalized Desis and give them space. And of course – the self pep talk before every remotely Muslim post - “Fuck all the trolling Islamophobic haters – as long as they’re commenting, there’s an important reason to keep blogging.” There was always that.

To commemorate – let’s list, shall we? So here we go. My top ten most influential moments here in the Sepia Mutiny bunkers…

1. Sepia Destiny: Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a single Desi girl with dating woes and having it all laid out in blogs. Remember the Dating While Desi rules? And wondering if Dating While Desi Bradley Effect of if Obama would increase the dating pool? These posts were our most commented on the site and clearly a very important issue to many of us. Though we always had high hopes of setting up a Sepia Destiny dating tab, it never came to fruition. Luckily, many of you didn’t wait for the tab to find SM love, myself included. Thank you, Sepia Mutiny for making dating life all that much more thrilling.

2. Gaza: Is Palestine a Desi issue? To me, the connection was immediate – but how to write about it? I hit the streets for the protests, interviewing every Desi person I saw and did it again at the rally in front of the Israel Embassy after the flotilla’s were attacked. In an American world where USINPAC and AIPAC are working in coordination to promote an Indian-Israeli alliance at the Capitol – I found it even more important to push this counter-narrative out there on SM’s pages. Especially after this Bollywood dancing missile promo video. Vijay Prashad’s Uncle Swami book coming out in June has a detailed analysis, but sadly my book review won’t be on these pages.

3. Ami Bera: He folded in to returning $250 of donations from CAIR-Sacramento Executive Director, thanks to pressure from his opponent Dan Lungren during the 2010 elections. My blog post sparked an interesting dialogue between readers, donors and the candidate himself - and even led to his having to return donations from people wanting their money back. Ami Bera is at it again, running in this fall’s election. But this time his race is highly supported by the Democratic Party big shots. Let’s just hope he doesn’t fold to Lungren again.

4. Edison, NJ: Joel Stein’s article caused a ruckus in our bunker – was it racist or was calling it racist too much? I tied it to The Last Airbender and called it racist – but others disagreed.

5. Bridget McCain: During the 2008 election John McCain’s Bangladeshi adoptee daughter hit the campaign trail, and I wrote a letter to her. The comments were fierce to say the least and generated a dialogue that I will never forget.

6. IndiCorps: This had to be one of the larger recent issues that totally split the Desi progressive community in two. You either sided w/ Vijay Prashad who “called out” Sonal Shah on aligning herself with the VHP or you sided with Indicorps family. I didn’t write about this, but Amardeep’s post, Ennis’ post, and Amardeep’s second post did cause a lot of ruckus both within the bunker and within the community. With ten year anniversary of the Gujarat riots around the corner, I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of it.

7. Queerness: One of the things I’ve completely enjoyed about writing on Sepia Mutiny the amount of coverage that was given to the queer community. There were the marches on Pioneer Blvd., Gay Pride in NYC, coming out stories, interviews with Prerna Lal and Sikh Knowledge, and the Nani supporting Proposition 8.

8. Bone Marrow Donation: The Mutiny has been featuring stories of bone marrow donors needed for the past few years – and has contributed to the significant increase to the South Asian donor pool. Most recently, Amit Gupta’s story and his viral social media campaign generated a 10/10 donor bone marrow donor match.

9: Hate-crimes: There have been so many hate crimes in the community over the years at Sepia Mutiny. Some were in post 9/11 hate and others were driven by islamophobic fear. There was the monument in Arizona that wanted to remove Balbir Singh Sodi off of the 9/11 monument, Kamal Uddin, Satender Singh, the Elk Grove murders, and the controversial fake hate-crime of Aisha Khan.

10: Voting: Of course, voting. What drew me to these pages of Sepia Mutiny was what drew me to start South Asian American Voting Youth – to empower the community to have a political voice. After ALL of my posts on voting, posts on Obama, and posts on south asian candidates – I hope that you all walk away a bit more empowered.

Thank you. Thank you to Abhi for inviting me to be a guest blogger way back in 2006 and for not kicking me out of the bunker. Thank you to all the dear bloggers who gchatted with me through ideas, who edited my posts at all hours of the night and who inspired me to keep writing. Thank you to the fabulous readers and commenters and lurkers who made this experience a constant learning and growing experience. Thank you to all of you who took the time to email me personally, talk to me at a meetup or voiced encouragement in person – each of you helped me onto this journey that I’m on today, and I’m a much better person for it.

As for where you can find me now… you’ll always be able to find me tweeting away @TazzyStar or on my personal blog at Say What?. You can find my tumblr site where I curate images of the South Asian American diaspora Mutinous MindState, and more infrequently at the Taqwacore Webzine. Finally, you can read one of my stories in Love, Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women. As for the future, time will always tell. I’ll keep you posted.

Oh, and one more song. For old times sake.

Ami Acshi.

Remember Amit Gupta? He was diagnosed with Leukimia in September 2011 and thus began the largest social media driven internet friendly bone marrow donor recruitment campaign we’ve seen to date. He has something to share today.

… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor! You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.) [amitgupta]

I am stunned by this good news! As we’ve blogged before, South Asians have a 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a donor match and to find a perfect match is even more of a slim chance. This is one of those circumstances that highlights how social media campaigns can turn into real life successes! Of course, Amit still has a battle ahead of him.

Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.

First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.

Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.

Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own. [amitgupta]

I am reminded of Sameer who also had a 10/10 donor match – but unfortunately suffered from complications from the transfer. Amit has a tough battle ahead of him, but he has a large community that is rooting and praying for him. Good luck!

The online art exhibit Skewed Demographic brings together artists to address the racial disparity in the bone marrow registry. Each piece in the online gallery is being auctioned off with proceeds going towards processing bone marrow testing kits.

Photographers Shirin Adhami and Sunita Prasad curated the show in honor of Photojojo founder Amit Gupta and other South Asian leukemia patients. Adhami first met Amit Gupta when both were undergraduates at Amherst College a decade ago. When Gupta first announced his diagnosis and his need for a bone marrow donor, Adhami was one of his many friends who rallied to action.

“Personally, I was working on doing drives and I was thinking of doing a more symbolic gesture,” said Adhami during a recent phone interview. “How could I reach an audience that maybe couldn’t donate marrow? How could it be more than a request for money?”

Adhami decided to put the call out to her contacts to see if they would be willing to donate their work to the cause. “The idea is photo-based, but the artists are not necessarily all photographers. The inspiration is really from Amit’s photo interest,” she said. “There were times that I have not even realized I was using one of his inventions until much later. He has really affected the photo world with Photojojo.”

The show debuted at the Queens Museum in New York last week and now exists solely online. Bidding closes on Monday, December 19, but Adhami says that she continues to receive donated pieces from artists and will keep bidding open for the newer items a bit longer. She estimates that about $10,000 worth of artwork has been donated for the auction.

The bidding process is simple: just email skeweddemographic@gmail.com with the amount you’d like to bid and the lot number of the item. Suggested minimum bids are listed on each piece’s page. As an added bonus, Adhami says one of the artists will send a small print to everyone who bids on an item.

Highlights from the show include this print by Bill Burke and a print by legendary photographer Joe Deal, who passed away from cancer last year. The print was donated by Deal’s widow Betsy and is not currently available anywhere else. Other items up for bid include prints by Jesse Burke, Tom Griggs, and Rebecca Heyl.

Aziz Ansari and his Parks and Recreation co-star Chris Pratt just released this PSA encouraging young people to get their cheeks swabbed for the bone marrow registry.

DoSomething.org’s Give a Spit campaign is specifically targeting young people between the ages of 18-24. The campaign and its partners Be The Match and DKMS “need inspired young people like you to take the lead and register more committed college-age donors, especially minority donors. You can save lives by running a “Give a Spit” drive on your campus. Just sign up and we’ll get you everything you need to run a drive.”

Plus, there are prizes: The drive that gets the most donors signed up wins $2,000 for a celebratory party and everyone who enters the registry through a Give a Spit drive is eligible for a $500 college scholarship.

Readers who are curious about what donating entails should check out Taz’s recent interview with two donors. You should also check Amit Gupta Needs You for a list of drives across the country.

(Via Gawker)

It’s surprising to me after all this time that there are still people not registered in the bone marrow registry. At last week’s San Francisco Subcontinental Drift, I eagerly convinced my friend to sign up to the bone marrow registry at the back table, surprised that he hadn’t done so already. “I’ve been in the registry for 7 years,” I told him. “All it takes is 4 simple cheek swabs and you are in.” Within minutes, he was in the registry too.

But what is it like to actually donate? That I didn’t have experience in. I do know that if I ever get the chance to donate, I’ll be 99.9% willing to step up to the call of duty. I decided to interview two South Asian American women who had the opportunity to donate bone marrow, Kristeen Singh and Darshana Vakharia. Here’s what they have to say:

Congratulations! When did you do it and what was the overall experience like?

Kristeen: Almost a year ago (Dec 14, 2010), I donated bone marrow for a seventeen year old boy with Leukemia. I was told that the recipient was the same age as my nephew, so it was natural I wanted the same for this boy. As a donor it feels like yes, we are doing it, and yes we are life savers.

Darshana: I donated in January 2004.  When I donated all I knew was that it was for a little girl who was 9 years old.  My oldest daughter was exactly the same age at that time.  Needless to say I couldn’t do the procedure fast enough.  All I remember right now is how lucky I felt that I was a match and was actually donating.

When you got the call that you were a bone marrow match, what was your decision making process?

Kristeen: I was in disbelief that I was actually called. It wasn’t until I had my blood tested that confirmed I was the best match that, I believed it. I was excited that during the holiday season, I would get to share the gift of life.

Darshana: The decision was already made for me when I registered to be a donor in  ‘92 .  However I had to figure out the logistics of dropping off and picking up my girls to and from school who were 9 and 6 at that time.  City of Hope was a big help.  They sent a Limousine to pick me up, (which was pretty cool) so that my husband could drop off the girls and then come to the hospital.  And I wasn’t scared.  I Just prayed that the patient was strong enough to receive the marrow  and that the transplant would be a success.

Do you know the person that you gave bone marrow to?

Kristeen: I hope to one day find out. I know it is a 17 year old boy that lives in another country. After one year, if both parties agree, you can connect. Either way, I know that part of me is with him always and forever.

Darshana: No.  Privacy is a big issue.  Both parties have to sign consent forms agreeing to do the procedure.  On the form itself only the sex and the age of the patient are mentioned.  Also you  are counseled about the procedure and  they prepare you to face the consequence that, sometimes, in spite of everything, the patient might not make it.  City of Hope calls to let the donor know , after a couple of weeks, whether the patient is doing well or not.

How long were you in the hospital for? How long did it take before you fully recovered?

Kristeen: I had a choice of either doing the PBSC or marrow procedure.  70 percent donate using PBSC, but I decided on the marrow procedure. I felt soreness in my lower back, but I can’t even imagine what pain the  patient was going through. It was pretty cool that at the end they took my marrow and it was taken to be infused in the patient.

Darshana: I was supposed to be discharged the same day but my blood pressure was a little low and I had to stay an additional day.  However, normally you are discharged the same day.

Truthfully, how much pain were you in?

Darshana: Like Kristeen said, I too was sore for a few days and was advised by the doctor to keep walking and that would alleviate the soreness.  Frankly, if you’ve had children, then this feels like a sprained ankle

Did you have health insurance? Who covered the cost?

Darshana: I do have health insurance but I was not responsible for any of the costs, of the procedure itself, the preceding tests or the after care.

How did you initially get listed in the bone marrow registry?

Darshana: I initially got involved with Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches because my best friend’s cousin was suffering from Leukemia.  We had a drive for her at my place, where we registered almost 25 -30 people including myself.  While we were registering people at my home, my friend called to say that her cousin passed away.  They did find her a match but that person lost his nerve at the end and did not agree to donate.  I mention this only to point out that if a person is not sure whether he/she wants to go through with the procedure he/she has a choice right until the very end, before they give you anesthesia (as in my case of a marrow procedure).  I have volunteered with A3M  since that day in my house until the last couple of years.

Would you do it again?

Kristeen: Absolutely

Darshana: In a heartbeat.

Kristeen, you used to work to encourage South Asians to join the bone marrow registry as the South Asian Outreach Coordinator with Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M) a few years ago. I felt that it was somewhat serendipitous that you were asked to be a donor. What was that like?

Kristeen: It was a wonderful irony that I was contacted to donate. In ’06, I got hired and the first thing I did was register. In September of 2010 I was contacted by A3M and told I was a match. Registering South Asians from all religions between the ages of 18-60 has brought people together to save lives. Those I met and connected with, and the many thousands that registered to save lives, give me faith in the power of community.

Kristeen, you were working with A3M when the Save Vinay & Sameer campaigns happened. Later in a blog you stated that 24,611 people registered in the 3 month span of the campaign, and that 266 were matches. How do you think the campaign was able to be so successful?

Kristeen: Those numbers are from the book Dragon Fly Effect. The campaign was led by Prit Radhakrishnan, Vinay’s good friend. In the beginning Vinays friends, family, and community, all come together to start this campaign. His family and Radhakrishnan launched “Team Vinay” with the goal to register 20,000 people of South Asian descent as fast as possible. Some time later  Robert Chatwani, one of Sameer‟s friends mobilized “Team Sameer.” The two teams joined and a power team was created.

In Southern California I was working with Vinay’s family mostly. There was definitely a lot of project management, marketing, logistics, and planning. All the recruiters and staff from A3M were on board and all really helped. I have never worked so hard at anything in my life. You really can’t stop because someones life is at stake. I feel like the main reason people registered was the story and messaging that both teams created. They did a great job of sharing the story so that everyone could see themselves connected to Vinay or Sameer. People felt that Vinay for example could easily be their brother, husband, son or father. People made Vinay and Sameer’s cause their cause.There were tons of dedicated volunteers and every temple, mosque, gurdwara, south asian fraternity, business group, organization came together. In Southern California we were able to register 5000 people.

When I was at the hospital donating my marrow, I was informed that many more South Asians are coming up as matches at that hospital than before and are moving forward. That makes me feel good.

Why do you think it’s important that South Asian Americans join the bone marrow registry?

Kristeen: Because you can save people like Amit Gupta. Also, if someone you know or your family needs a match, this registry will be there for you too. Every year many South Asian patients are diagnosed with blood-related diseases. In order to survive, patients need a bone marrow transplant from a matching donor. Nearly 30% of patients will find a matching donor within their families. The remaining 70% must search for an unrelated donor. Unfortunately, a very small percentage of South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis) are registered to be marrow donors. South Asians comprise approximately only 2% of the National Marrow Donor Registry.

What kind of illnesses require a bone marrow transplant?

Kristeen: The following diseases are the ones that most commonly benefit from bone marrow transplantation: leukemias; severe aplastic anemia; lymphomas; and immune deficiency disorders. However, patients experience diseases differently, and bone marrow transplantation may not be appropriate for everyone who suffers from these diseases.

Darshana, I know that you have been in touch with who you donated to. Have you been able to stay in touch with them?

Darshana: Unfortunately not.  We are facebook friends but I felt that it should be their choice if they’d like to keep in touch.  They know where to find me.

What would you tell someone who isn’t listed in the bone marrow registry yet?

Darshana: Technology has made it so that it’s become very easy to be able to save a person’s life.  The new procedure is almost painless and all it takes is a few hours out of your life.  The marrow you donate is replenished in your system within a matter of weeks.  And most important of all is that you have a choice until the very end, but if you do decide to register make an informed and educated decision.

How can people join the registry if they haven’t yet?

Kristeen: Registering is easy and all you need is four cotton swabs with saliva samples and a completed form. You can get a kit mailed home to you or register in person at a drive near you!

Thanks to Darshana and Kristeen for taking the time to answer these questions. I hope that you have gained a little insight into what it means to be a bone marrow donor. If you still need some more information, be sure to check out SAMAR and A3M or this handy FAQ. And of course, to help out Amit Gupta, please visit his site here.

Two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor, who I’d gone to see the day before because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why. He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got Acute Leukemia. You need to enter treatment right away.”

I was terrified. I packed a backpack full of clothes, went to the hospital as he’d instructed, and had transfusions through the night to allow me to take a flight home at 7am the next day. I Googled acute leukemia as I lay in my hospital bed, learning that if it hadn’t been caught, I’d have died within weeks.

I have a couple more months of chemo to go, then the next step is a bone marrow transplant…. [M]inorities are severely underrepresented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help. [amitgupta]

We’ve told you before of numerous cases where bone marrow donors are needed -  for Sonia Rai, Maya Chamberlin, Vinay & Sameer, Bevin Varughese, and more. For the most part, these stories have ended tragically. The sad thing is, they did not have to end the way they did. The health disparity is stark: There are 9.5 million people in the bone marrow registry; only 1% of them are of South Asian descent; that means South Asians have a 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a match.

What are you waiting for? A simple (FREE) cheek swab can save a life. I’ve been in the registry since 2005. It’s painless, I promise. A Q-tip rubbed on the inside of your cheek, that’s it. More painless than burning your tongue on hot chai. Get your kit sent to you in the mail today. Or if in NYC, go to the awesome Brown Bones party on Oct 14th at New Work City hosted by Amit’s friends.

Need more of an incentive? If you are the first certified match, Amit’s friend Seth Godin will give you $10,000. Seriously.

To follow Amit’s journey, check out his tweets at @superamit, Tumblr with him and of course the obligatory FuckYeahAmitGupta.

Remember – it’s not just Amit that will benefit. There are many other Desis such as Anand Patel who are also looking for bone marrow donors. You could save a life.

We’ve posted about this so many times at SM and the sad tips and pleas for help keep coming– and that means we haven’t done enough, as a people. There aren’t enough Desis in the national bone marrow registry and because of that sad reality, when my Uncle or your favorite college prankster is diagnosed with a life-stealing ailment, the amount of hope they are given by someone in a white coat is tiny.

Without other Desis in the system, the chances for a match grown narrower and narrower; I know at one point, a non-trivial number of our readers were getting swabbed for Vinay. Thank you for that. You are still in the system. Since then, new people have joined the Sepia Mutiny community and it is my flickering, idealistic hope that one of you is a match for Sonia.

If you are in D.C., please consider going to Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple tomorrow between 11am and 3pm, to get swabbed for Sonia and everyone like her. It only takes a moment and you, you could be the one who saves a life. Please.

Team Sonia – Sonia’s brother Sumit Rai, family and friends are organizing drives today and in the next few weeks. Please take the time to help spread the word about the drives and join the NMDP registry if you have not already done so. You can visit www.curesonia.org, or visit their Facebook page.

As you may be aware from our previous posts on the topic, the National Bone Marrow Registry (NMDP) is in dire need of more ethnic donors. South Asians, as well as any minority, and especially people of mixed ethnicity are needed. Sonia is currently receiving excellent care at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, but in order to survive beyond the next few months, she requires a bone marrow transplant. Most matches occur within ethniticty and increasing the number of South Asians registered as potential bone marrow donors will help Sonia as well as many others who are searching.

Among the 7 million registered donors currently, approximately, only 2% are South Asians. Ethnic Minorities have a 30-40% chance of finding a match from the existing NMDP registry. Caucasians have an 80% chance of finding a match from the existing NMDP registry [link]. The saddest truth of this process for a patient is that finding a match is not sufficient. I attended a talk by a Samar representative who mentioned a South Asian patient. After a lengthy search, he found a match and moved to the Seattle area. Unfortunately just before the donation process, the donor backed out. Another patient had 4 matches that did not work out.

Approximately 50% of all Ethnic Minority donors will NOT push through with donating if called as a possible match for a patient. (whether because they are unreachable, they say “no”, or become medically ineligible). Whereas over 70% of Caucasian donors WILL proceed with donating if called as a possible match [link].

What can you do?

LEARN

Learn about AML and what committment it takes to be a donor. The process has gotten a lot simpler over the years. It does not take a blood test or a needle, only a simple, non-invasive cheek cell sample to become registered. If you are contacted as potential match, learn about what is involved. Learn about some of the facts and myths.

JOIN

What Sonia and others like her need are committed and available donors. This holiday season, spend a small amount of your time and be the miracle someone is praying for. Find a drive organized by Team Sonia. For the most current information, visit their Facebook page. Here are some upcoming events I found starting today. Team Sonia plans to organize more events on the East Coast as well:

Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: Nachi’s Birthday. Where : 25 Lusk Street, San Francisco, CA. When : Today from 18:00 to 21:00

Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: Darbar-E-Khalsa. Where : Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA. When : Saturday 25 December from 11:00 to 17:00.
Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: Fremont Gurdwara. Where : Fremont Gurdwara, 196 Gurdwara Road, Fremont, CA. When : Sunday 26 December from 10:00 to 14:00.
Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: El Sobrante Gurdwara. Where : El Sobrante Gurdwara, 3550 Hill Crest Road, El Sobrante, CA. When : Sunday 26 December from 10:30 to 14:00.
Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: Livermore Temple Where : Shiva-Visnu Temple, 1232 Arrowhead Ave, Livermore, CA When : Sunday 26 December from 11:00 to 15:00
Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: Sunnyvale Temple Where : Sunnyvale Temple, 420-450 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale, CA When : Saturday 1 January 2011 from 11:00 to 17:00
Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive: Los Angeles New Years Drive Where : Valley Hindu Temple, 18700 Roscoe Blvd, Northridge, CA When : Saturday 1 January 2011 from 11:00 to 17:00

or learn about how to join and become registered.

STAY IN TOUCH

I gave my email address when I joined, and now I get a monthly newsletter which also contains my Donor Center and Record information and a convenient link to update my contact information. If you have already registered, stay committed to this cause. Remember to update your contact information.

SPREAD THE WORD

Even if you are already registered, you can still do more. Email, blog, tweet about it and spread awareness using your favorite networking media.

But there is a new little girl that needs our help, the precious four year old Maya Chamberlain.

In September, 4-year-old Maya Chamberlin was diagnosed with a rare blood disease known as HLH. Her chances of survival depend on finding a suitable bone marrow donor…. Maya’s mother, Dr. Mina Chamberlin, says her daughter’s illness, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, affects the immune system. [kpcc]

The reason that makes a match especially tough? She’s half desi.

The pool of potentially mixed-race donors is made even more difficult because blood relatives of patients often don’t qualify, and trying to find a volunteer with the right racial combination can be extremely tough, experts said. Marrow transplants are also more complex than those involving organs. [latimes]

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“It’s difficult with Maya because she comes from a mixed genetic background,” Chamberlin says. “I myself am from India and my husband is Caucasian — German and English descent — so the combination of the two is making it more difficult to find a match.”

A donor’s compatibility is based on their HLA — or human leukocyte antigen — type. “And HLA is basically inherited. So the probability of finding a suitable donor is highest among people of your own race,” Chamberlin says.

She says the chances of finding a donor are “pretty low — pretty, pretty low… But it is not hopeless. I mean, I know there is that one person out there.”[kpcc] It’s pretty simple to join the National Marrow Donor Program – you basically just have to be healthy and under the age of 60. Once you are in signed up, you will be in the database forever to be matched if ever needed. The process to sign up to be on the bone marrow donor registry has gotten simpler over the years, all it takes now is a cheek swab. If you haven’t signed up yet, what’s stopping you? It’s easy. All you have to do is register on the marrow.org and they’ll mail you a cheek swab kit. I just ordered a kit for my mom.

The donation process is also less intrusive than it used to be. It is cost free to be a donor, local anesthesia is administered and you will be back to work within a couple of days. You can check out more about the Myths and Facts about being a donor here.

Maya’s situation is currently urgent and stable, but they still have not found a bone marrow donor for her. I would especially like to encourage the half-desis that read our site to join the registry. Who knows, you might be her one in a million match.

Sepia Mutiny was, I think, conceived of by its original members along similar lines: a “desi CNN,” if you will. Over time, of course, it’s evolved, and while nowadays it might occasionally seem more like “Desi NPR” than “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos,” we do try and throw in The Great Khali and some ritualized baby-throwing to keep things lively. (Yeah, boyeeee.)

Abhi, who’s planning to formally kick off a fundraising drive in a couple of days in a separate post, tells me that a site with Sepia Mutiny’s level of traffic costs $1200 a year to maintain. Since we don’t use ads (on purpose — being ad-free lets us be more honest & independent), we try and rely on support from readers to help defray that cost.

One way you can help us, if you like, is to use our Amazon Associates account number if/when you shop at Amazon. It doesn’t need to be attached to a particular purchase; as long as you enter the site through a click from a Sepia Mutiny link, like this one, we can potentially get a small commission off of any purchase you make on Amazon following that click-through. And it won’t cost you anything.

(Using Amazon Associates is, admittedly, a form of advertising, but it’s really advertising for Amazon.com, not for a particular product.)

We probably won’t be able to raise enough money to cover all our costs this way, and a direct “PayPal” appeal will probably happen all the same, but we did want to make sure readers were aware of this option. Here, for instance, are some of the books we’ve talked about recently (all the links below are keyed into Sepia Mutiny’s Amazon Associates account): Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World, Manil Suri, Age of Shiva, Thomas Sowell, Conquests and Cultures, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Love Marriage, Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth, Chetan Bhagat, One Night @ the Call Center (which, admittedly, I hated), and Tahmima Anam, A Golden Age.

We do this site for fun. While there is the occasional small perk, the truth is, when we review desi-themed books, movies, plays, the performing arts, and so on, we’re doing it because we’re passionate about it. When we start up discussions about issues relating to politics, identity, economics, science & health, and Washington Redskins Cheerleaders, we’re doing it because we love the conversation with you readers (the cheerleaders, not so much… ok, a little).

And finally, when we talk about life and death matters — such as Bone Marrow drives that could potentially save lives — we do it of course because we care (indeed, this issue hits closer to home for some of us bloggers than most of you know). But it’s also important to talk about those things because the mainstream media would likely never bother to cover something so “particular” to one ethnic group: the South Asian community.

Thanks in advance, guys.