E-campaign brings artists on board to save lives

KOLKATA: From rock to popular to folk, top musicians across various genres on Sunday united to raise funds for the treatment of a 30-year-old mother, Mousumi Ghosh, who urgently needs kidney transplantation, and a five-year-old child, Shreyashree Das, who is suffering from blood cancer. The artists were brought together by a social networking community and were received warmly by scores of citizens with a heart.
"We often face the question that since there are several ill-fated families like that of Sreyashree and Mousumi, why did we select just the two of them. Our answer is that we try to assist those who approach us, of course after investigating the family and the illness. Earlier, we helped 17-years-old Tithi Aich, another blood cancer patient. She was brought to our notice by a Facebook supporter who was Tithi's teacher," said Siddhanta Roy of MKMK (Moner Kotha on Khuley). The community, based on Facebook, aims to utilize the reach of the site by gathering people for the benefit of the society, he added.
"The case of Sreyashree and Mousumi was brought to our notice by two of our community members, Milan Ganguli, Sreyashree's family friend, and Debasis, Mousumi's brother. Out of so many people using social media, if only 5,000 people come forward to contribute as little as Rs 100 per month, then we can collect Rs 5 lakh and save many more each month. Our aim is to gather those 5,000 people," Roy told TOI.
"We are overwhelmed by the response of our Facebook friends, artists and singers. Singers like Pallab Kirtania, Monomoy, Jayati Bhattacharya, Sidhu of Cactus, Anindyo of Sohor, Silajit and Srikanta Acharya readily came on board," he added. "I'm quite frankly disillusioned with the so-called activism on social media. But when this group approached me, I could appreciate the genuine effort they are putting in. So I'm more than glad to be a part of this program," said Sidhu.
Shreyashree's father said: "She is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. We have already run up a bill of Rs 4.2 lakh, but the Tata Medical Centre has given us a relief of Rs 2 lakh. We are very grateful to doctors, artists and activists."