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Monika Rawal Kukreja
Known to always lend a helping hand to those in need, one couldn’t expect Yuvraj Singh to not step up during a global crisis. As the country reels under the second wave of the pandemic, Singh’s foundation, YouWeCan, recently launched #Mission1000Beds — a hospital capacity expansion solution to rapidly scale up Covid-19 critical care facilities across India.
On how the idea for the initiative came about, the former Indian cricketer tells us, “Many of us have lost loved ones [amid the pandemic] and witnessed countless cases of people struggling for oxygen, ICU beds and other critical care facilities... I’ve been impacted by this, too, and felt that we all need to support our healthcare providers, and the central and state governments, which are working tirelessly.”
Singh shares that, last year, his foundation “mobilised resources for providing over one million hygiene kits to affected states, besides running multiple Covid-19 awareness campaigns”. Explaining how #Mission1000Beds will ensure a stronger healthcare system, he says, “We aim to strengthen the capacity of government, Army, autonomous and charitable hospitals by setting up oxygenated beds, ventilators and BiPAP machines, and other essential medical equipment. These will not only enhance the current capacity of hospitals, but will continue to serve patients for 10 years and beyond,” he states, adding that they “envision to enhance healthcare infrastructure in other spheres in near future”.
It has been just over a week since the initiative’s launch and Singh is glad it has turned out to be a “successful” one. “We had started with a target of 1,000 beds, but we’ve already got requests for over 2,000 beds from hospitals across India. This is our opportunity to come together in this war against Covid. I urge others to join the initiative,” he says.
Meanwhile, asked how the past year has been for him, he admits it was “a bit challenging” to get used to the new normal. He says “a solution driven ecosystem” is his coping mechanism, and adds, “The best way to cope with anything orbits around finding the solution.”
This period also gave Singh time to reflect. “It makes you see things from the lens of gratefulness for the friends and family around you... Staying strong and being kind is the need of the hour,” he muses.
Actor Kangana Ranaut has claimed that she is out of work, which is why she is late in paying her taxes “for the first time in life”. In an Instagram story, she wrote, “I’m the highest tax paying actress but because of no work, I haven’t paid half of my last year’s tax yet.”
Juhi Chakraborty
As the second wave of the pandemic eases its grip with Covid-19 cases on a decline, people are heaving a sigh of relief. However, actor Neena Gupta is still anxious as she feels that people should not let their guard down just yet. Currently in Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand, with her husband Vivek Mehra, she says that even after getting vaccinated, she is being very cautious.
“I keep hearing that people got Covid-19 even after vaccination, and I remind myself that even if I get it, it will be a milder infection. I tell myself to be positive. But when I go out and even for walks, I wear my masks at all times. I’m not so relieved even after the two vaccine doses,” the Mulk and Badhaai Ho (both 2018) actor shares. Gupta, 66, tells us that the last couple of months have not been that easy for her, and she even fell sick due to the stress.
“I started having stomach issues. It was very troublesome. I called my doctor and he asked me if I was tensed, because stress affects your digestive system. And I said I wasn’t, because everything is okay here...,”
Titas Chowdhury
Tshe shares, quick to confess, “But then I realised that I have been sad. As I read and saw things, the fear that I might get the virus or that someone close to me can die, is still there. That stress continues.”
That said, the National Film Award winner is trying her best by staying occupied to keep bad thoughts at bay. “I cook a lot these days, so my mind is occupied. I don’t sit idle for a second so that I don’t [get the time to] think of the crisis. There’s a lot of stress we all have right now, but we have to deal with it and we have to be very careful,” she adds.
Another thing that’s keeping Gupta positive and adding to her happiness, is the response to her latest web film, Sardar Ka Grandson, and Gupta is lapping all the appreciation up.
“It was a very challenging role for me to play and I’m happy that people are appreciating it. Initially, when I was told I have to play a 90-year-old woman, I said no to the makers. I said I don’t want to play a nonagenarian right now. But when I heard the script, I got very excited, and I was like, ‘I want to shoot now’. It was a very beautiful script and my role is so nice, so there were no second thoughts,” says the actor, who co-stars with Arjun Kapoor in the film. he pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone, especially for parents as they need to ensure that their kids feel safe, calm, and keep healthy routines in this unprecedented situation. Taking note of this, actor-producer Lakshmi Manchu has put together a series on parenting amid Covid-19 on her social media, the first two episodes of which have already released.
Mother to a six-year-old, she believes it’s imperative to reach out to other parents and spread awareness on child psychology, nutrition and wellness. “With this parenting channel, a lot of parents have reached out to me to talk about these subjects. So, I thought, why not get experts and deal with a few common problems we struggle with daily? The areas I’ve chosen broadly cover a lot of questions we have about our children,” she shares.
Manchu stresses on the importance of making children understand the magnitude of the current health crisis rather than keeping them in the dark. “Like any other child, Nirvana (her daughter) is curious. She wants to know how serious this is. I tell her the triumph stories of people we know, who’ve come out of it and are doing well,” says the actor, who predominantly works in the Telugu film industry.
The Pitta Kathalu actor adds, “When I do my live sessions and talk to people over the phone about the virus or explain to my staff about what the pandemic means, she hears me and picks up words. Kids can understand a lot more than they are ready for. It’s important to keep the conversation alive for them.”
The south film industries continued shoots and production work even during the second wave. As a producer, Manchu feels that the show had to go on. “We took a risk and we’ll continue to take it for as long as the virus continues to be there. After being vaccinated, we’re going to come out and resume shoots,” she concludes.