After their campaign for a pollution-free Deepavali last year, brothers Jai Aswani and Preet Aswani are pursing a new cause. This year, they are seeking to create awareness about the hazards of using plastic products and want to do everything they can to make the Tamil Nadu government’s ban on single-use plastic products successful. Towards this end, the brothers are distributing cloth bags to vendors.
“Our aim is to distribute one lakh cloth bags to vendors. In its first phase, the drive received support from Savera Hotel, The Westin and GRT Hotels. They gave us used cotton bedsheets. We roped in various organisations working with destitute women and differently-abled to stitch bags from those bedsheets. The stitching cost for each bag was ₹5. Our relatives and friends bore the stitching charges. So far, we have distributed 50,000 bags,” says 16-year-old Jai.
With the support of Sri Chaitanya Techno School, Manapakkam, the brothers along with the students of the school distributed around 25,000 bags on the day of Pongal to vendors at Manapakkam and Porur. The remaining were distributed to vendors at Mogappair, Amnjikarai, Medavakkam Tank Road, Kellys and Pycrofts Road. The brothers, who are students of Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, Kellys, are carrying out the campaigns under the initiative called ‘Born To Win’ which was formed in 2012.
“The aim of ‘Born To Win’ is to encourage every child to take up a social cause and effect desirable changes in society. We have plans to start ‘Born To Win’ clubs in schools. There is no registration fee to become a member of the club,” says 12-year-old Preet Aswani. The brothers have another 1,200 cotton bedsheets to stitch into another 50,000 bags.
Their target is to stitch another 50,000 bags which will be again distributed to vendors.
“The stitching cost for a bag is ₹5. Those interested can sponsor the drive by bearing the stitching cost of some bags. We do not accept any money. Instead, people can pay directly to the non-governmental organisations that stitch those bags,” says Varsha Aswani, the brothers’ mother.
She can be reached at 98843 61161 or aswanivarsha6@gmail.com
