A couple of weeks ago, on the 8th of October, people in areas comprising parts of Pakistan and the disputed area called Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, were the unfortunate and unwilling receiptant of an act of God (for the non-believer, an earthquake caused by tectonic plate movement).And this was around the same time when the Indian blogosphere (as the world seems to call us) was standing united behind Rashmi and Gaurav. Caught as we were in the whole maelstorm, it seems that we were unware of the enormity of the ordeals faced by the unfortunates in our own backyard. But soon we realized that we had been unwittingly brought together in time to be used for much bigger causes as well.
There is a line of thought that the world has been hit by so many such disasters in the span of a year (the Tsunami, the hurricanes in the US, the rains in different parts of India and now this earthquake) that people have started feeling what has been termed "disaster fatigue" and that is one more reason why any additional help to pass the message along would be appreciated.
We have been inspired by international blogs like Instapundit that raised a lot of money for Katrina relief efforts. The spark was lit by Anna at Sepia Mutiny who highlighted the contribution to the earthquake victims made by the Tsunami survivors in the Andamans. Ash and Desipundit have taken it forward and have called for today to be observed as Blog Quake Day - a coming together again, this time to raise money for the people affected by the earthquake on the 8th of October. Desipundit has a list of aid organizations that you can donate to. As Ash says, every single dollar contributed, will go a long way in helping these people rebuild their lives.
So today is Blog Quake Day. If you are a blogger, please post a similar message on your blog. If you don't have one, pass the message along over your company bulletin boards or mailing lists. And more importantly, please do contribute to the cause.
