Actress Sanjana Sanghi, on Wednesday, opened up about her COVID relief work, in her piece for Humans of Bombay. The 24-year-old actress shared her story of how she and her caretakers helped each other during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sanjana Sanghi began by sharing that she has always been close to her "selfless caretakers" and that they have "taken care" of her for the last few years. "I've always been close with my selfless caretakers-be it Durga Bhaiya, Vimal Didi or Suman Didi. Durga Bhaiya has seen me grow up, while both the Didis in the last few years have really taken care of me. I remember, when Vimal and Suman Didi had joined, I had an erratic schedule-I was juggling college while still shooting," Sanjana Sanghi wrote.
She went on to share how her caretakers "sacrificed their sleep so many times" just to ensure that Sanjana gets "ghar ka khana (home cooked food)." Sanjana wrote: "I'd get notified about an international flight just 4 hours prior to my departure, but they still ensured I had ghar ka khana for my flight. Even Durga Bhaiya has sacrificed his sleep so many times for me." She added: "It's something you only do for people you consider your own & so today, they're family for me."
The young actress also shared how her caretakers "were confused and didn't' understand COVID" and she helped them out. "And when the pandemic struck, they were confused and didn't understand Covid. But when the 2nd wave hit and they saw people getting infected, they realised ki yeh sirf bukhar nahi hai (that it isn't just some fever)," she wrote.
Sanjana Sanghi revealed that she "bought virtual devices" for the kids of one of her caretakers and also helped them in operating the devices. "Suman Didi has 4 kids who couldn't attend school because they didn't have virtual devices, so I bought it for them and answered all their, 'Isko kaise chalate hai (how to use them)?' questions. I even provided relief kits to their relatives who'd lost their jobs," Sanjana Sanghi wrote.
The actress shared that "when the vaccine was finally out," she explained the importance of getting vaccinated to all her caretakers. In fact, Sanjana and her caretakers got vaccinated together. "And then when the vaccine was finally out, my brother and I spent hours trying to book a slot for everyone! Durga Bhaiya, Vimal and Suman Didi were skeptical, but I explained why it's important to get vaccinated. I assured them that we were all going to get it together," she wrote. "So, after getting myself registered, I registered the 3 of them! And we all got our first shot together," she added.
Sanjana Sanghi also shared how her caretaker extended gratitude to her and asked her to continue with her relief work to help others. She shared that her caretaker's words "encouraged" her to do more. "4 days later, Suman Didi said, 'Aapne jo humare liye kiya uske liye thank you. Par aap dusro ke liye bhi karte rehna. Yeh josh mat khona (Thank you for whatever you have done for us but please continue doing this for others also. Don't lose this spirit)' I was doing Covid relief work then, but I didn't know she'd noticed. But she was proud of me and that encouraged me to do more," Sanjana Sanghi wrote.
The actress ended the note by stating that the "way we all have come other" for helping "not just friends, but also strangers, show humanity is still alive." She wrote: "Honestly, it's not just me. In this pandemic, the way we all have come together and gone out of our way to help not just friends, but also strangers, shows humanity is still alive. But I hope that the next time we show such compassion, it's not in the face of a virus."
Read the post here:
In terms of work, Sanjana Sanghi made her Bollywood debut with the film Dil Bechara last year. She will next be seen opposite Aditya Roy Kapur in Om: The Battle Within.