Akshay Kumar continues with his mission to empower women by honouring extraordinary story of a young girl at L’Oreal Paris Femina Women’s Awards 2014 and walking the ramp at Mijwan Fashion Show, organised by Mijwan Welfare Society.
Established by the late Kaifi Azmi, the Society, now run by his daughter Shabana aims to uplift rural India with a focus on girls and women.
Akshay has shown his commitment to this cause and the event saw several superstars of the Hindi film industry present to honour the accomplishments of a group of courageous women, who had made selfless contributions to their communities, have registered significant achievements in their careers.
Indebted family
One inspirational story came from a girl called Sarupa Sangam from a village near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. Burdened by debt, this young woman, her mother and four siblings worked as maids whilst her father drove an auto rickshaw.
The income earned was not sufficient and hence the family was forced to leave their home to avoid creditors. Sarupa secured a full time job in a family and one of her main duties was to take her employer’s children to martial arts classes.
Martial Arts
Watching the children at these classes, Sarupa asked Soshihan Mehul Vora, the teacher, if she could also learn. He agreed to teach her free. In 2011, she won a silver medal in the ‘Akshay Kumar International Karate Tournament.’
Akshay awarded her a cash prize of Rs 100,000 in the ‘Upcoming Students Category’ at the Femina women’s Awards.
Sarupa now works as a martial arts teacher at the MP Shah English High School and has become the pride of Karim Nagar village. She credits Akshay for enabling her to achieve her dream.
This story has brought to the forefront the direct and indirect influence that Akshay has on his fans. A 6th degree black belt in Karate with the title of ‘Shihan’ (or Teacher’s Teacher), he is due for the next level.
His passion for this sport encouraged him to launch the Tournament five years ago, pioneering the biggest ever-Martial Arts movement in Indian Karate. He is due to launch shortly a Martial Arts Institute for women in Mumbai.
Source: Sterling Media; Email: natasha@sterlingmedia.co.uk
