I began this blog, Hoi Polloi, as a MarCom and PR exercise nearly 8 months ago. I write for 2 magazines here in the U.S. and have been writing for LMD for the past 10 years, so it was a useful way to connect with my readers.

The tsunami of December 26th changed all that. It suddenly became not so important to cover topics such as Wi-Fi, and viral marketing, when tens of thousands of people in some eleven countries are dead, injured, orphaned and have lost everything they had, with no hope for the future. Their needs are fresh water, medicines, and a comforting hand of a loved one –not the latest mega-pixel camera, or that 40-gig iPod.

I very quickly realized that I had to turn this web site into something more useful –perhaps a fund-raising tool and information post. A radio station called, wanting to know if I could get an interview with someone on the ground. My wife, Tanu, being a Montessori teacher, spread the word to a few friends that she would like donations of children’s items to be sent over to Sri Lanka. This small gesture snowballed into a huge affair, with people descending on our home and dropping off so many bags of clothes, infant formula, feeding bottles, and canned food, we had to park our cars outside the garage. The FOAF –friend of a friend– network was suddenly in motion

I am in touch with people from several companies in Sri Lanka doing relief work, working almost like NGOs! These people have begun writing back with stories that I have started posting as well. Blogging for Sri Lanka has suddenly made an online experiment one of the most rewarding communication projects I have ever got myself into. Maybe it is rewarding, too, because it makes up for the sense of helplessness we feel. Those of us who live several time zones away –that’s 23-hours flying time for me– from Sri Lanka, will understand this better than others. Cell phones, text messaging, and IM bring home the immediacy of the nightmare out there. A blog takes each of our personal experiences of hope and pain and wraps us into a community.

HoiPolloi, has now taken on a new meaning. It is the voice of ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. If you’ve read this far, please try to make a difference, not just for Sri Lanka, but for someone out there. We all have day jobs. We all have other things we rather be doing. But it would be irresponsible to go on as if December 26th didn’t happen.