Taapsee Pannu surprises Karnataka girl who needed phone to study

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

Bengaluru, July 31, 2020:   In a heart-warming gesture, Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu has sent an iPhone to a Karnataka student, whose father had sought help to get a smartphone to assist in the education of his academically bright daughter.

 

Soon after NDTV ran the story of the girl, who scored an impressive 94 per cent in her PUC or pre-university college exams, several people wrote in, offering to send out a smartphone to help the family. Some even offered to pay for the education of the girl and her two sisters.

One of the first ones to get in touch was the 32-years-old actor, who said she would be dispatching a phone right away.

"We need more girls to study. We need every child to study. We need more doctors. This is my small effort in making sure our country has a better tomorrow," tweeted Ms Pannu.

The iPhone has reached the young student today.

"Today, I got the phone from Taapsee ma’am. It’s an iPhone which I can’t believe. I could not even have imagined this! I will work hard and try to clear NEET (Medical entrance exam) . Let your blessings be with me," she told NDTV.

Her father borrowed money from his relatives and sold his wife’s gold ornaments to fund the education of his three daughters.

Much of training, coaching, education has moved to online these days with the Coronavirus pandemic leading to the cancellation of physical classes. However, a smartphone that would really work well for the online classes was beyond the budget of the family, which owns a basic model phone.

The girl found out about the phone when she returned after writing her CET or Common Entrance Test exams for admission into professional colleges in Karnataka.

On being asked about the exam, she said, "It was good." Her next target, the NEET exam in September.