A middle-aged businessman, Madan Mohan Juneja, was visiting Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for a health check up, when he was awe-struck on seeing a lady standing with folded hands in front of a billboard.

The hoarding called for donation of body organs after death so that some other lives could be saved. It carried an enlarged picture of a 21-year-old handsome young man, Anmol, victim of a road accident. His body was donated by his parents so that all his organs could be transplanted on needy patients.

The lady was expressing her gratitude to the deceased youth, one of whose vital organs had saved the life of her kin. Juneja was overwhelmed. It was a poignant scene when he told the lady that Anmol was his son and she started crying. Now she stood with folded hands before the father, profusely complimenting him for taking a bold decision.

Undoubtedly, Anmol, which literally means priceless or precious, had lived up to his name. He was dead but had given a new lease of life, new hopes to several people.

After the road accident last December, he was brain dead — a condition which means irreversible loss of brain functions. Somebody mustered the courage to suggest to the family that Anmol, who was popular due to his helping nature, could continue to be good even after his demise if his cadaver was donated to the medical institute.

The average person is not aware that surgeons can get from a single cadaver about three dozen organs like heart valves, kidneys, lungs, liver, pancreas, intestines, bone marrow, middle ear, blood vessels and tissues etc which can save at least as many lives. But such an idea continues to be abhorrent in India’s social set up and was, therefore, unacceptable.

As we know, a dead body, as anywhere in the world, is treated with utmost respect and given decent farewell according to the relevant social customs. The very thought of scooping out the dead person’s eyes or any other organ continues to be revolting.

Nobody could think of disfiguring the body of a near and dear one despite the objective being noble. Besides, there is a widespread belief that the act can lead to deformity of the person’s physique in next birth. This single factor is responsible for the resistance to the donation of organs.

Despite growing awareness, rise in the level of literacy and sustained government campaign, such notions remain deep rooted. Rational thinking has taken a back seat. People see reason only when they are in need of some transplant for one of their own.

Today, offers of organ donations come once in a while to the frustration of the medical fraternity. There is a huge gap between demand and supply. Needy patients have to wait for long periods. And offer of the whole body is a rare phenomenon.

Happily, things are now changing — rather rapidly. It is gratifying that the decision of Anmol’s parents alone has brought about a sea change in people’s thinking over the last six-seven months. Slowly but steadily, awareness is growing — thanks to the presence of national media, anything happening in Delhi traverses quickly to other regions.

The large presence of patients and their attendants at AIIMS, supplemented by visual publicity, are also helping the cause. Response is picking up. There is growing evidence of that. The medical fraternity is now happy.

Whereas only one or two cadavers used to be donated in a year, the state-run AIIMS has received five bodies in as many months since last December, according to Times of India. The AIIMS is now getting flooded with requests for donation of bodies, organs and tissues — a welcome trend indeed.

Already, things have moved from shortage to surplus. So much so, that AIIMS is now sending them to other medical colleges. The Institute carried out as many as 22 eye-related transplants in 24 hours.

Anmol’s case has, in a way, led to a mini social revolution which is expected to filter down from Delhi to other places. For the Juneja family, the big consolation is that their son is not dead — he lives in several others.

Lalit Raizada is a journalist based in India.