Farah Khan wants to safeguard children

While it is common knowledge by now that post Mumbai terror attack, Farah Khan and the Save Versova Beach Association are putting together a security model for two streets in Versova comprising of 22 societies, the choreographer/director reveals that she took this step for the safety of children.

"On the night of Mumbai attack, just imagine what could have we done had the terrorists attacked us and our children? When we ourselves were so panicky about the situation, how could we have expected to keep the young ones calm? No one had a clue around what to do and that set me thinking that the least we could do to safeguard our children is get an initiative kick started where each of us, whether young or old, support the other in dealing with a disaster situation", states Farah Khan who is making sure that this drive doesn't dry down in days to come.

This is the reason why apart from setting high-tech equipments/mechanism like CCTV cameras, patrolling jeeps with guards at night and personalized fire-fighting units, Farah is also aiming for children being trained on administrating first aid in case of any mishaps.

"Frankly, even I don't know how to administer basic first aid, so how could children be expected to do that? This is why we would be having a camp this week where children would be taught these basic things", says Farah.

She insists that no one from the society is considering this as a celebrity initiative. "Yahan koyi celebrity vagairah ka matlab nahi hai. Most of the people belong to middle class and we all have to come together to ensure our own safety. I alone can't do anything and we need to have experts in different fields to educate us on everything related to disaster management. Thankfully, we have people amongst us who in spite of their daily jobs to do are still coming ahead in driving this initiative forward."

On a concluding note, Farah says, "We have just started off and have some way to go. This has begun with a group of societies but won't it be great if other societies too learn from this drive and even contribute to it? The farthest this initiative spreads, the happier I would be with the success of the program. Remember, we can't be dependent upon outsiders to save us all the time; let's take steps to look after our own self first."