CHANDIGARH:A young Punjabi woman, who was born in
Singapore
, studied in
Spain
and now works in London, will run the
Berlin Marathon
on Sunday to raise money for distressed farmers in Punjab.
Tarandeep Kaur
, a UK-based financial analyst, will run the 42-km marathon for the farmers who she feels are not finding any light at the end of the tunnel and committing suicide.
“The donations collected would be used for supporting families of farmers in Punjab through (the NGO) United Sikhs,“ said Tarandeep while talking to TOI over phone from the UK. Some of the best marat honers in the world take part in this event known for breaking world records. This includes Haile Gebrselassie,
Paul Tergat
and Wilson Kipsang. Tarandeep, who has her roots in a village near Amritsar, said she had already raised around 2,000 pounds but she had increased her target to 3,000 pounds. She regretted that hardly any Indian or Sikhs have donated for the cause of helping farmers in Punjab.
“I have to say it's really disappointing. Ninety-five per cent of the money has come from my friends and colleagues who are from a com pletely different race and culture,“ she added.
United Sikhs director Mejinderpal Kaur said, “Farmers feed the world. When their widows and children are facing hunger because their breadwinner commits suicide due to debt, we have a duty to feed them. Today we provide monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to 150 farmer suicide widows from 40 villages in Punjab.“