On the occasion of Indian cricketer MS Dhoni’s 45th birthday, a fan club in Hyderabad named Telugu MSDians has taken the initiative to donate blood at the Chiranjeevi Eye and Blood Bank.
Praveen Balusu, who is a vice president at an IT firm, founded the club. “We do something every year in the orphanages on his birthday,” said Praveen, speaking to The Indian Express.
However, Praveen thought to do something special this time. “This year is Dhoni’s 45th birthday. I wanted to do something special. Film actors Chiranjeevi sir and his son Ram Charan sir do a lot of social work. They are iconic and inspirational people, so I decided to approach their blood bank.”
“We have ensured that we are prepared for about 500 blood donors,” said Ravanam Swami Naidu, COO of the blood bank.
“We have organised blood donation facilities on the ground floor and the first floor of the building. Chiranjeevi sir’s sister, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Madhavi Raj, will supervise the entire programme,” Naidu further said.
Naidu also provided the checklist for eligible donors. The first requirement is that the donor should be between 18 and 60 years old and weigh over 50 kgs.
“All medical check-ups are done, including haemoglobin,” Naidu said. The doctors will review the donor’s medical history, including any past medications or history of operations.
“We follow the guidelines given by the Drug Control Department. If the donor is not fit, we will reject the blood donation,” said Naidu.
Naidu would encourage more people to organise blood donation drives whenever there is the birthday of an inspirational figure to counter the shortage of blood in Hyderabad and rural Telangana for those in emergency.
“Many times, people meet with accidents or heart attacks, and women delivering babies face blood shortages in many hospitals… they come to us for blood, and we try to provide it. We save the lives of 20 to 30 people every day,” said Naidu.
“Everyone healthy should definitely donate blood every three months…” Naidu says.
Praveen’s love for MSD
A young Praveen in Visakhapatnam who saw Dhoni blast 148 against Pakistan at the stadium became his super fan. “I fell in love with him instantly,” he says. The way he conducts himself as a leader, and the way I was brought up by my parents… as they say, everything clicked for me becoming his fan.”
Dhoni captained the Indian side to lift the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 and then won the 2011 50-over World Cup. This has inspired Praveen to write a book in 2012 on Dhoni and his 2011 winning campaign, “A dawn in the lawn.”
“I wrote that book out of passion, not for anything else,” Praveen said.
Praveen Balusu, the founder of Telugu MSDians club with his family. (Special Arrangement)
He urged that he wanted to make a point in that book: it is easy to be critical while watching from television, but hard to play on the field. “The only see the fame and name… But they don’t know how hard it is to play physically and mentally. I feel bad about that,” Praveen said.
“If Kapil Dev ensured in 1983 that the Indian team was not just there in the World Cups to participate by winning the trophy, and Dhoni during his captaincy tenure made India a champion side,” said vice president of the club, SSB Sanjay.
In the same year, he authored the book, Praveen would also get the opportunity to meet Dhoni when there was a game in Visakhapatnam and get his autograph. His love for Dhoni grew exponentially after that, and he started calling himself “Dhoni devotee”
“I have to follow the principles as a devotee, and I learned leadership skills from him,” which Praveen says comes handy in his professional career.
Praveen’s love for Dhoni made him name his daughter Mahi. “Her full name is Rudhira Mahi. After her first birthday, the people who attended received gifts. We have given them something related to Dhoni,” Praveen laughed.
“As soon as one enters my house, people see everything related to Dhoni. I have three cutouts of him. Dhoni’s iconic six shot in the 2011 World Cup. Additionally, I have a room. I decorated the room with all his memories. I got replicas of his IPL Cups, Champions Trophy, and World Cups made. When someone comes to my house, they are in awe and start taking pictures,” Praveen added.
First of its kind
The fan club, on the other hand, has been running for a long while. It got its official recognition last year on June 26. He approached an auditor who formed a committee and signed the rules, and Praveen received the registration certificate. “We have 13 members officially registered as of now,” Praveen said.
“It is the first official fan club of Dhoni,” a proud Praveen would say.
It is not just the blood donation on Dhoni’s birthday, the fan club decided to organise food for municipal workers who clean roads in the morning. “They clean our roads before we go to the office…and if they don’t do it, we start falling ill, and that was the idea behind it,” Praveen reasoned.
“The club also got in contact with Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), and as the TG20 league through them, we have planted seven plants,” said Sanjay.
A Hyderabad based fan club initiated a blood donation camp on the occassion of MS Dhoni's birthday. (Instagram/Telugu MSDians & Sportzpics) 
Praveen Balusu, the founder of Telugu MSDians club with his family. (Special Arrangement)
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