Saumya Tandon is giving a gift of education to a child this Diwali

Saumya Tandon has decided to ditch the conventional way of celebrating Diwali this year

Saumya Tandon has decided to ditch the conventional way of celebrating Diwali this year. Instead, the actor is going to give the gift of education to a child. The money which is usually spent on food, clothes and crackers will be used by Tandon to take care of all the school expenses of her hair-dresser’s kid. Throwing more light on the intention behind this noble step, Tandon says, “I feel, instead of giving people clothes and sweets, which probably will be used in that moment, give something meaningful like education. This gift is going to make a change ...going to add some value to the life of not only this generation, but probably the generations to come,” she shares, and adds, “Doing something for others gives the kind of happiness, which is incomparable and I want everyone to do it,” she says.

Saumya Tandon is happy to celebrate Diwali by giving gift of education

About the family that Tandon is going to help, she further reveals, “My hairdresser is a single parent and has been suffering after COVID. Work has been very difficult for her and she’s going through a very bad time in her life. Despite everything, she really, really wanted to send her child to a better school and had mentioned it to me about her inability to afford the high fees. That where the idea came from that why not gift a family a genuine chance to try and come out of their poverty and live a better life. If we take this one step, these children will not have to grow up to do jobs like that of a servant or a labourer necessarily.”

But it’s not just about one family, Tandon says, “After COVID, there are so many people who have actually taken their kids out of the schools because they do not have that kind of income anymore. And there are so many people who want to put their kids from a government school to a better school, but they do not have the means to do that.” Tandon, who also recently helped her Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai co-actor Deepesh Bhan’s family in repaying their loan, aims to inspire more people to do something similar and add meaning to their Diwali celebrations.

As Tandon urges people to spread smiles through meaningful gifts, she expresses disappointment on how India is the country which donates the least in the world. “When Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to India, they closed their charity after some time because there were minimal to no donations. In US, the rich people give away their entire wealth. But here, a country which is said to be a spiritual nation, people don’t do charity as a custom. “

Are there any actions that she feels should be taken by the government or school authority when it comes to helping children like these get their education properly? Tandon tells us, “Definitely! But the sad part is that most of the times we are not even aware of the benefits that government has given. May be they are not marketed well. There is absolutely no awareness about them.” The artiste says, the only way out of this problem is when these schemes are communicated and advertised. “There should be awareness about them. Second, if they are announced, there should be a proper implementation. And third, of course, there is some kind of a monitoring agency required to keep a check so that things happen in a systematic manner.”