eleven-year-old iha sharma, an andheri (w) resident, has donated rs 21,000 to the bihar relief fund collected by a news channel. this class vi student gave away all the savings from her piggy bank to help flood-affected people in bihar."i knew about the floods in bihar. i saw kids crying on tv and decided to give my piggy bank money to them," said the little girl,
who watches the news regularly with her parents. she thought she had about rs 5,000 in her piggy bank, which she decided to donate so that "they get water, food and clothes from this money", her hope and confidence shining through. as it turned out, iha had saved a princely sum of rs 21,000. "the more the money, the better," she says.iha studies in janki devi public school, andheri (w), and says science and hindi are her favourite subjects. "i love singing and dancing. i have learnt kathak and i want to be a dancer - i like classical and western dance. or, i might be a gynecologist, since i like science," iha says, outlining her dreams. she also fasts on the first and last day of navratri and is socially active. the sharmas shifted from delhi to mumbai only four months ago. meenakshi sharma, iha's mother, says, "the bihar floods were being shown a lot on news channels and we were discussing what we could do for relief. iha's piggy bank weighed 2.5 kg and we had thought we would invest her savings for her. but then she said she would like to help the flood victims too and wanted to donate her savings. we told her that it was nice of her to do it, but she shouldn't regret it later, the way kids generally do. but she was determined to donate her money. we also sent clothes and made contributions to the school's relief fund. we are really happy about what she did."iha's father, harish, adds, "even as a child, she has been giving her dolls, old toys and clothes to slum dwellers nearby. during summer vacation, she would put up a stall of juice, sell it to people in the building for rs 5, collect the money and give it to the less privileged. she has always been sensitive to issues around her."iha has a simpler explanation. "i like to do all this," she says, saying it all.v_ritika@dnaindia.net
