A ‘moving’ effort to help 

There is no stopping Diya Naidu when it comes to giving it back to society during this Covid-19 crisis.
Diya Naidu
Diya Naidu

BENGALURU: There is no stopping Diya Naidu when it comes to giving it back to society during this Covid-19 crisis. After spreading awareness about the pandemic, this city-based independent artiste, who is a Covid survivor herself, is coming up with a fundraising movement arts workshop, from July 25 onwards, for those affected by the pandemic. Naidu, who hails from Kolkata, is also conducting the initiative to help victims of cyclone Amphan. All the proceeds will go towards helping sex workers and their children from West Bengal. While many have been working towards helping daily wage workers and migrant labourers, Naidu feels sex workers have been neglected. 

“Since Covid-19 also spreads through touch, they have lost their business,” says the dancer, who explains that their situation has been worsened by the cyclone, which left many homeless. For this initiative, Naidu, who was also one of the first plasma donors in Bengaluru, tied up with a Kolkata-based NGO Diksha – which works towards upliftment of the sex workers and their children –and CUSP, a Kolkata-based welfare community, which has been working towards providing Covid-19 safety essentials like face masks and hand sanitisers to the poor.

The Covid survivor says, “Being an artiste, I understand how helpful it is to use art therapy during this kind of crisis. Not just in the form of catharsis but also through channelising negativity in the right form. Through my workshops, I aim to help people that way. I deliberately left a long gap between the classes so that people can channelise these moves,” says Naidu, whose workshops are going to be two months long. The workshops are priced at Rs 4,000 for two months and Rs 2,500 for one month. They will be two-and-half-hour long and will be conducted online every weekend.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com