Being an actress happened to Sanjana Sanghi pretty early in her life. But even after making her debut, Sanjana went back to studies, completed her college and then returned to films. Along the way, she developed a penchant for philanthropy. Having worked with social causes in her college days, as an actor, Sanjana became United Nations’ youth champion, which recently allowed her to even visit the UN headquarters in New York. In a candid chat with DNA, Sanjana talks about the cause that his closest to her heart and the dream-like visit to the UN HQ.
Sanjana was in Delhi recently to participate in a World Environment Day programme for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “I began doing it because of the amount of fulfilment it gives me personally. That has been the intent always. But, as I am getting to partner with more people, getting more muscle on the ground to drive change, I see there is one option to sit at home and whine about what is wrong with the world. The other option is to get out there and try to do whatever little bit you can. Even if I am a drop in the ocean, I am happy to be that,” she says.
Sanjana admits that actors have a platform that they can use to amplify such causes very easily. The 28-year-old adds, “I am very privileged. I treat it solely as a privilege. Before being a public figure, I was quietly working with NGOs during my college days. That gave me all the happiness in the world. Now, to be able to share it with lakhs of people and to get people involved, that gives me joy and pride. It’s such a gift as an actor to be able to reach millions of people.”
Sanjana was in New York at the United Nations headquarters last month. Talking about the experience, she tells us, “If you had told Sanjana from Delhi University that one day, you would be invited to the United Nations headquarters as a youth champion of UN, I would have definitely not believed you. I just realised that problems like unemployment, climate change, health crisis are just in India but the reality is that these are global issues. I hope I get this opportunity year on year to amplify the Indian voice as much as possible on the global platform.”
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