Sonam Kapoor often grabs headlines for her impeccable sense of style. But little is known about the actor’s involvement with social initiatives. This aspect came to the fore last week when Sonam visited a city-based hospital, where she interacted with children suffering from malnutrition.
“If you’re born into privilege, it’s your duty to give back [to society],” says Sonam. “That’s basically why I’ve been dedicating a lot of my time towards the causes I believe in. To be associated with an NGO that is working towards eradicating malnutrition is a step in that direction. We can build hospitals, toilets and schools, or propagate feminism, but at the end of the day, if we do not feed our kids and they do not have food, then everything is in vain.”
The Neerja actor has been making headlines after she was seen at a local hospital in Mumbai interacting with children suffering from malnutrition. She believes in using her ‘celebrity status for good’, reported Hindustan Times.
The 31-year-old was recently roped in by two non-profit organisations, both of which work with underprivileged children. One helps kids who suffer from malnutrition, and the other collaborates with hospitals to treat kids who have cancer. “When you’re hungry and fighting for food, then every other cause you’re fighting for becomes irrelevant. You first need to survive. Only then can you do other things. A lot of hospitals offer cancer treatment to underprivileged children. But the treatment, even though it is free of cost, doesn’t work on them because they are so malnourished. What is the point of the free treatment when they don’t have the energy to utilise it?” she adds.
“It is my responsibility to use my celebrity status for a good cause. I believe I should pay it forward. I am a concerned Indian citizen, and I believe in humanity. I think working towards these things is very important. In fact, you don’t have to be a celebrity to do that. You can be anybody,” says Sonam.
She adds, “We can live in an ivory tower and give support and money, or tweet or talk about it, but if we don’t know what’s going on at the ground level, then there’s no point. Your efforts become more effective when you’re actually involved and know what’s going on,” she asserts.
