When I feel distressed, sad, or helpless, I think I’ve no right to feel this way as I am sitting in the comfort of my home: Diana Penty

It has been heartbreaking to hear stories about the suffering that the second wave of the Covid 19 pandemic has caused in our country. So many people have been badly affected and are unable to meet the financial requirements for their treatment and hospitalisation,” says Diana Penty, who working on creating awareness about ‘everyday heroes’ and has collaborated with a crowd-funding platform Ketto India, to provide financial support to individuals amid the pandemic. They aim to bring awareness to individuals and smaller organisations doing incredible work and hopes their social media platforms shines some light on the causes and helps them gather the funds they need.

Like so many of us, the current Covid situation has affected the Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018) actor, who admits that the last month was tough. “Regular news updates, constantly checking social media, talking to friends about the situation was really beginning to affect me. By the end of the day, I would be engulfed in feelings of distress, sadness, and utter helplessness. And then I would think that I had no right to feel this way as long as I was sitting in the comfort of my home,” she shares, adding, “What must it be like for those directly affected by the second wave of this pandemic? And for those actually in the field? Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, police personnel, municipal workers, people working at cremation sites, volunteers, social workers. I can’t even begin to imagine what they must have been going through. I hope one day, when all this is past us, we can thank them enough for their compassion and unconditional service. These Covid times are proof that compassion, love and humanity go a long, long way,” she says.

The second wave not only led to a massive health crisis but the lockdown also no shoots taking place, leading to financial stress for many in the film industry. Penty urges everyone as a community to come together to help those affected, in whatever way possible. “It’s definitely a very difficult time for everyone, and more so for the daily wage workers in the industry, who are solely dependent on day to day shoots. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like things are going to go back to normal anytime soon, and rightly so. Until then, it’s important that we continue to help the people we can and focus on getting as many vaccinated as possible, so that as and when restrictions are lifted, shooting can begin again in tight bubbles of vaccinated crew,” she concludes.