Mumbai: Apart from spending time with family in Chandigarh on the occasion of Diwali, actor Ayushmann Khurrana and his wife Tahira Kashyap are planning to bring joy in the lives of women ragpickers this festive season.
The couple has decided to send Diwali gifts that are handmade by women who are supported by the non-profit organisation, ‘Gulmeher’. They will present diyas and candles handmade by women ragpickers that have been trained to become artisans.
‘Gulmeher’ is a women’s collective of waste-pickers turned artisans that is committed to the green agenda and believes that creating beautiful products can go hand in hand with environmental and social development.
There is a reason why Ayushmann Khurrana is sending gifts with a thoughtful gesture. “Diwali is about making someone feel special. While we celebrate with our families, we need to be conscious that there are many others who we can support and bring a smile to their faces too. By gifting these products, we want to bring to light the life changing work that this organisation has been doing with these women who need our utmost support. We hope we are able to spread as much information as possible to support this cause,” Ayushmann Khurrana said.
According to Tahira, it is important to highlight the talent and skills of such women. “We chose to gift products made by these women (ragpickers who were from the neighbourhood) to highlight the excellent work that they’ve been doing and show the positive results that they’ve achieved. We want to bring their effort to focus and highlight that lives matter and must not be wasted doing dangerous jobs to simply live. We need to secure the future of such countless women and so we want as many people to know about their work and in turn support them,” Tahira Kashyap said.
On the film front, Ayushmann is all set to be seen in bald avatar in Amar Kaushik’s Bala, which is scheduled to release November 7.
PNN & Agencies