In between chaos created by bomb blasts in Mumbai & news channels constantly flashing horrific images in name of “live reporting”, there is some other related news which caught my eye.
Delhi resident Nitin Sagar created a public spreadsheet on Google Docs(Now taken offline) where anyone willing to help Mumbai blast victims can give their contact details & list things they are willing to do for helping. Shortly after that, it got retweeted like crazy & gone viral
Several users have offered overnight house stays, the use of their car, and listed their blood types under the #here2help tab. The spreadsheet also has #needhelp, Blood group, Missing, and Injured tabs which residents are still filling out. serendipity of finding that there are hundreds of people more than willing to offer you place to stay, donate blood,free rides, give money is amazing. It Certainly reinforces that humanity is not dead.
This is where technology can play its part to connect people — instantly & spontaneously. Like in this case, tools like Twitter,Google Docs have organize an ongoing rescue effort where people are helping each other without help from Govt which you can see by this map of tweet users in mumbai. This allowed every person with internet connection to add their tiny bit.
This exactly why I love technology! Technology enables normal people to do great things.
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