RITUPARNA BATS FOR CARE DURING PANDEMIC
Practising yoga, taking it easy and not overfeeding herself with constant updates — this is how Nimrat Kaur is maintaining her sanity amid the current pandemic. “If we’re not mentally sound or not feeling sane, we won’t be able to look after ourselves, physically,” the actor opines, emphasising the effect of the crisis on the frontline workers, including those who work at crematoriums and burial grounds.
“Mental well-being should also cover our healthcare and medical workers, for whom, right now, there’s no support at all. They’re tirelessly working round the clock at breakneck speed,” she explains.
Kaur, 39, points that almost every family has lost someone to this deadly virus, and that’s bound to take a toll on their mental health. “There’s so much tragedy around us. There’s recovery as well, but it’s mayhem. If all of us can just look after ourselves and our loved ones right now, that would be enough,” says the Airlift (2016) actor, adding, “People are having mental breakdowns, there’s no end in sight. There’s so much speculation attached, so much that keeps changing... people are confused, hopeless and have lost jobs. I can’t possibly insist more on the fact that mental well-being is the need of the hour.”
Away from her family, Kaur makes it a point to talk to her loved ones every single day. “I don’t know when I’ll get to meet them. I pray so much, more than I ever have. I feel grateful for everything I have,” she signs off.
Rituparna Sengupta is currently in Singapore where a set of new curbs has been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. While she is relieved with the Covid-19 situation there being under control, she is worried about the grim atmosphere back home in Kolkata (West Bengal), a city she used to frequent every week for work commitments and to meet her mother.
She shares, “I’ve lost a lot of my near and dear ones over the past few weeks. My aunt has recovered from Covid but now has other complications. Getting a bed in a hospital has become so difficult! My mother has become very depressed because she hasn’t seen me for so long.”
Sengupta, from Singapore, has been participating in Covid relief work, especially for children. Paediatric care is the need of the hour, she asserts. “I organised a vaccination drive for about 20 children with special needs and NGO workers at a private hospital in Kolkata sometime back. Children with special needs have comorbidities and if they happen to contract Covid-19, it will become difficult for them to recuperate,” she says.
The Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (2011) actor has also tied up with an NGO, working towards arranging hospital beds and oxygen cylinders for young cancer patients and has started a community kitchen to help those hit by the pandemic. “Helping out with meals is the least I could do. I’ve tied up with a foundation and distributed food to more than 400 families twice a day,” she ends.