Anand is helping experts join forces
As India puts up a tough fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of people have come forward to help in whatever way they can. And one among them is filmmaker-writer Anand Gandhi, who has been helping Kerala and Maharashtra governments — in an unofficial manner — share each other’s expertise and experiences visà-vis dealing with Covid-19.
Recently, he reached out to the state cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray to bring in a team of doctors and nurses from Kerala “to share experiences”. “I reached out to him through a friend and things happened at super speed. I offered my voluntary help and assisted in creating a communication channel between Dr Santhosh Kumar from Doctors Without Borders and the state,” says Gandhi, adding: “Dr Santhosh is now stationed in Mumbai. Now, I’m helping create communication channels between various public health experts.”
“I am just helping connect the dots. I am not an expert on the pandemic, but I can see the pattern [of cases]. There is a lot of expertise in India, and I realised that I can possibly help smoothen the communications channels,” says Gandhi, who has been working closely with Dr SS Santhosh Kumar.
Ask him how it all started and Gandhi, 39, says, “The idea was to help experts make use of each other’s experiences. So, if Kerala hasn’t seen as high a mortality rate as Maharashtra, then maybe, it can help Kerala’s doctors. Likewise, Maharashtra’s experts can take a leaf out of how Kerala has managed many things.”