Mumbai kids pray for Jade Goody
Mumbai kids pray for Jade Goody-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India
While reality TV star Jade Goody struggles through her last few days in the UK, 8,000 kilometres away, children in India are praying the end is peaceful for her.
26-year-old Manoj Gurung is one of those rescued by the Railway Children NGO, to which Goody had made a donation of Rs 25 lakh in 2007. Gurung ran away from his village Sibsoo, in Bhutan, as a 10-year-old because he could no longer bear the emotional and physical torture by his father. "I don’t want to talk to my father. However, I really like Jade Goody. She is a good human being, may God be kind to her,‘’ he said.
Two years before Danny Boyle and India’s slumdog situation drew world attention, Goody had made a donation to Railway Children to help runaway children at railway stations. Said Mrinalini Roy, the country director of Railway Children, "Goody had heard about us through our UK offices. She wanted to meet some of the rescued kids and I had accompanied her to our Delhi shelter in 2007.‘’
Rao said that Goody had thoroughly enjoyed mingling with the children, and honestly answered their questions. She recalls when one boy had asked Goody why she was so rude to Shilpa Shetty, the reality TV star had frankly replied that she had made a mistake and openly apologised. "Now as Goody faces the harshest reality of her life, our Railway Children family in India is praying for her. We have also posted a colourful card to her,‘’ Rao said.
Gurung personally posted the special card for Goody. "It is people like Goody who make a difference to our lives. We are all sad that while her donation gave us a fresh chance to live, she herself is dying in England.‘’