Actress Poonam Dhillon is among those who have taken the initiative to collect and send relief material to the survivors of the tsunami devastation.
The actress tells Patcy N how she plans to help.
Everybody is contributing without taking credit. That's why I feel hesitant to take credit. Everybody is doing whatever they can -- coordinating and making sure things get sorted out and go to the right places.
There is a list of medication that they need -- antibiotics, needles, cotton gauge swabs, gloves etc. They need buckets, plates, vessels, rice, dals, plastic sheets, tents, bedsheets, blankets and water sachets. But the most important requirements are medicine, food and water.
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I thought of helping them because we tend to sit back and say 'so sad' and 'bechare'. But we are talking about a million homeless people. Imagine if you have to skip meals! It is not enough to say that 'government kuch karegi' (the government will do something). The government is a machinery manned by human beings. We should not just say 'unka kaam hai, hum toh paise de dete hai (it's their job, we donate the money). Lets try and do what we can to motivate people and get them moving. People need directions.
(Former Sri Lankan cricket captain) Arjuna Ranatunga called me up and asked me to help him organise used clothes. He told me, 'I know you have a lot of friends and contacts. I know you can do this for us.'
I said yes. My family has a lot of doctors. I have been telling them to get the pharmaceutical companies to do whatever they can. That is how it started. As you go along, you discover more things that they need and meet people who want to help.
Some people are saying I am sending consignments to Sri Lanka only, not India. At such times, you don't think about all this. Human beings are human beings, irrespective of barriers. Our first consignment has already been dispatched. We have sent it to Chennai. A part of that will be sent to Colombo.
Arjuna will have it collected in Colombo and send it to various NGOs. The Isha Foundation in Coimbatore has come forward to help. They have 1,000 volunteers. In Mumbai, I have recently started a foundation called Maddat.
Quite a few film personalities are not in town, as this is vacation time. But they have said they would like to help.
Today, Nausheen Ali Sardar (who played the original Kkusum, (singer) Vikas Bhalla and (actor) Vikas Kalantri called me up to offer help. Suniel Shetty and Manisha Koirala told me they would do whatever they could to help, but they are not in town.
I would love to visit the affected areas, but this work is more important. People tend to donate money. I would rather take that cash and buy the necessary items. After a few days, I will go to Chennai and Colombo.
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