From reminiscing Sonu Sood’s kindness to uniting against human trafficking – top Social Stories this week
This week, SocialStory recalled the top initiatives by humanitarian, actor, and hero Sonu Sood during the pandemic. There were also stories of human interest and sustainability.
Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, known for his iconic villain roles, turned into a messiah for migrant workers during the pandemic-led lockdown early this year. As 2020 comes to an end, SocialStory brought out these acts of kindness to end the year on a positive note.
As we talk about the humanitarian efforts of the actor, we observed World Human Rights Day on December 10 by talking about human trafficking – one of the heinous crimes that strip people of their basic rights, and the impact of the pandemic on the same.
This week, we also saw a college lecturer from Erode who is rehabilitating street dwellers, The/Nudge Foundation that is helping alleviate poverty, and a detailed list of sustainable gifting ideas.
Here are the top Social Stories of the week:
Top 10 initiatives by actor and humanitarian Sonu Sood
Actor Sonu Sood
Actor, humanitarian, real-life hero – these three words perfectly describe the reel-life villain, Sonu Sood. From arranging buses and flights for migrant workers to return home to providing financial support, jobs, food, and other kinds of relief efforts, the Bollywood actor turned into a real-life hero and helped those most affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
Once people heard about his efforts, many started sending him requests to help their families, friends, or a person in need, and Twitter was the platform of choice. The actor did his best to reach out to them in their time of distress.
We brought out some of the top initiatives led by Sonu Sood in 2020, with the hope that his acts will inspire others to show kindness and empathy towards others.
College lecturer from Erode rehabilitating street dwellers
Social service has always been in Manisha's blood
Manisha Krishnasamy always wanted to serve people. A college lecturer in Erode, Tamil Nadu, she actually wanted to serve in the army, but social stigma and her family did not allow her to pursue her interests.
As she grew older, she began empathising with the street dwellers, who were struggling for a livelihood. So, she wanted to take this purpose to a bigger level.
In 2018, she started the Jeevitham Foundation. The primary goal of Jeevitham is to rehabilitate abandoned street dwellers – be it an elderly person or a mentally unwell patient, and even a drug addict.
The/Nudge Foundation alleviating poverty and preparing their public systems for the new normal
A student graduating at one of the programmes at The/Nudge Foundation
The/Nudge Foundation was founded in 2015 by Atul Satija, who was headline mobile products for Asia/Pacific-Japan at Google, and was also one of the early leading product engineers at InMobi and headed its business.
He joined an NGO called End Poverty and realised that non-profits were not competitive in the marketplace for talent, and do not get great people to work for them. He started The/Nudge Foundation as an experiment to apply the same principles to non-profits, which enable startups to become unicorns.
The/Nudge Foundation aims to eliminate poverty sustainably and scalably, and bring more than a million lives out of poverty.
Stand united against human trafficking, which strips people of basic rights
Every human is born free. Regardless of race, sex, gender, etc., it is our responsibility to treat everyone equally and with dignity. However, a large percentage of people – in India and globally – lack these basic rights. They are bound to the limits of four walls and live with little or no pay. A little freedom is all they want.
This year, the coronavirus pandemic also pushed many people to the brink. There were reports of increased discrimination, inequality, and poverty across the world.
On World Human Rights Day 2020, SocialStory discussed one of the most heinous crimes that completely strip a person of their freedom – human trafficking.
How conscious consumerism is forcing brands to go green
In 2015, the member nations of the United Nations made a resolution to adopt Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as a ‘universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030’.
However, economic liberalisation in the 1990s resulted in greater disposable incomes, a steep rise in consumerism, and a use-and-throw culture, which today has left landfills packed with plastic, e-waste, chemical residue, and non-biodegradable clothing.
The good news is that the Indian consumer is more aware than ever of the impact his purchasing decisions have on the environment. According to a global survey by Bain and Co., nine out of 10 people were willing to make the switch if they had an affordable eco-friendly option.
Edited by Megha Reddy