When the class 10 board exams were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bengaluru-based students Tia Poovayya and Niketa Khanna, were initially elated like many of their peers. “No exams, and we get to chill at home, we thought,” Tia says. However, not long after, the 16-year-olds realised that there were a lot of people who were left in the lurch due to the lockdown, and were having difficulties accessing even basic necessities.
“As soon as we realised this, we wanted to do something. We wanted to make arrangements for things that were scarce. For instance, there were already volunteers, NGOs and government provisions for food. But the same couldn’t be said about things like sanitary napkins,” Tia explains. “In fact, our domestic worker came and asked my mother if she could give her some pads because she was not able to get any,” Niketa adds.
And so, about two weeks ago, the girls decided to prepare relief kits – each containing one soap, seven shampoo sachets, sanitary napkins, and a mask – that they could distribute among migrant women workers, girls and those living in slums. They call this initiative Aurat Arogya.
They started asking their family and friends for contributions on social media and WhatsApp. Initially, the donations flowed in from people they knew, but as the WhatsApp message started circulating, they started getting donations from people they didn’t know. Within a week, they had raised around Rs 80,000. And on April 29, Niketa and her aunt accompanied the Koramangala police officials – to whom they handed over the kits – to two settlements in Koramangala and distributed the kits to 1,000 women and girls.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” Niketa says. “The first girl I met shared my name. Somehow that made me emotional. Many of them were quite grateful for these kits, which touched me. It strengthened my resolve to do seva (service) for people who are doing seva for me.”
While Tia was not able to go for the distribution of the kits, she says that the experience made her realise her privilege. “There is so much more happening than we realise. And if you are fortunate, and have the capability to help someone in need, you should. It is the duty of the society to take care of their own, which includes the less privileged.”
Tia and Niketa sourced the material for the kits from Metro Cash and Carry stores. They also say that the police have been quite forthcoming and helpful about their initiative, arranging car passes for movement and distribution of the kits.
The girls are already working on a second round of crowdfunding and relief work and this time, they hope to help around 1,500 women and girls. They have already raised around Rs 20,000. To contribute, get in touch at auratarogya@gmail.com, or message them on Instagram on the handle @aurat.arogya. They can provide you with details for bank transfer, Google Pay or Paytm there.
Children in other parts of the country have also been involved with relief work in their own way. A class 12 student, Aryaman Khosla, raised close to Rs 8.33 lakh for providing ration to children and parents that work with Bengaluru-based Parikrma Humanity Foundation, Deccan Herald reported. The organisation educates children from 105 slums in the city’s free of cost.
In Chennai, the children’s choir from the NalandaWay Foundation – which educates children from disadvantaged backgrounds – performed with musicians and actors like Anoushka Shankar, A R Rahman, Farhan Akhtar, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, among others on May 3 to raise relief funds. The digital concert was called ‘I For India’ and 28 children from Delhi and Chennai participated in it. The proceeds from the same went to GiveIndia’s India COVID-19 response fund, reported The Hindu.
In Kolkata, a six-year-old child artist named Debangkita Banerjee started singing at local marketplaces when it was allowed to raise money for COVID-19 relief. She also donated her savings worth Rs 10,000 and ultimately raised Rs 80,000 in total, reported The New Indian Express.
Children in Ahemdabad, Gujarat, meanwhile, donated their piggy bank savings to the PM CARES Fund and for direct relief initiatives, PTI reported.