Far from the arc lights, there is this one mission that has kept Sandalwood actor Pooja Gandhi extremely busy. It has been a year and a half since she was drawn to the cause, and with every story she has listened to over this time, her zeal to not just touch but change lives has only become stronger. Here’s what she has to say…
The turning point
I recorded a social message on HIV precautions for an NGO called Heroes about two years ago. The NGO supports families and children who are HIV affected. I went on to meet those children later, and I think that was when the enormity of the issue first hit me. These kids are like anybody else, but for the fact that they are affected. They are treated differently, so much so that even doctors shun away from addressing the smallest of their wounds. I then visited Bagalkote — a place that has as many as 30,000 plus people who suffer from HIV. With no education to fall back on, children only grow up to become replicas of their parents.
Shocking
One of my site visits was at Kengeri, which is the place I work on extensively now. There are as many as 250 women out there — who are uneducated, and have as many as 2 to 4 children, and no husband or bread earner and therefore are left with no other option but to become sex workers. Each of their stories are horrifying, to say the least. These helpless women then find themselves what they call ‘partners’. Now the partner is basically the pimp who takes away as much as 70% of the woman’s earning to feed his own family. A lot of these women are HIV affected too.
Getting out there
Most celebrities end up supporting a cause on a superficial level. But it is only when you are out there that you see how desperately in need of help these people are. Listening to each of their stories makes your blood boil and makes you want to do all that you can to help them out of their misery. I am aware that one cannot change the world, but at least we can do our bit to improve their lifestyle.
The women of Kengeri don’t even have basic human rights to rely on. On my last visit, I was at the home of a lady who had fallen ill. Since she was ill, she could not work and since she could not work, there was no money and no food at home. Her equally helpless children looked desolate in a corner. There was yet another woman, who has now become too old to find clients and before people like her consider opening brothels that trap other helpless women, we need to get some things in order.
What can be done…
Our first step was to document these issues and find a solution. The first solution we have is to get the government to issue them the BPL (Below Poverty Line) ID cards. Such a card allows them a few basic advantages, like a housing scheme and rations at a cheaper rate. With food and shelter taken care of, they can then be rehabilitated and trained for jobs that are not considered indecent. An education and regular counselling for their children is next on the agenda.
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