Twenty-six-year-old Sharada, who lost her IT job at a multinational company due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Indian state of Hyderabad, has been selling vegetables to make ends meet. Her story soon went viral on social media, and many users pitched in to support her, and it reached Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, who helped her to get a job.
A twitter user @akivaturi posted: "@SonuSood great help again. Apparently, there is this Hollywood superhero Chris Evans recently launched a website called A Starting Point and trying to educate people on the vote. I hope you could do something like that in India as well.”
Reportedly, a Twitter user named Ritchie Shelson had tagged Sood, asking him to help the IT professional. Sood responded saying he had already reached out to her, interviewed and offered her a job.
Sood has been going out of his way to help people who need it during the pandemic.
Dharani Jogannagari @Dharani19971 comments: "Many people have donated in lockdown, but it is not sure that their donation went to the hands of needy. He is a real hero as he is ensuring that his help reaches the needy, not the middle people in between. Real Hero @SonuSood”
According to a local news source, Sharada is a native of Warangal district in Hyderabad. She wakes up at 4am every day, goes to the wholesale market to get vegetables, and then sells them at the market to support her family. She is a graduate in computer science engineering and has become jobless after her company could no longer pay her salary and they couldn’t find a project for her to work on either due to COVID-19 crisis.
Tweep @@NSakalabhaktula posted: "Hats off to you @SonuSood Sir. Your boundless support to everyone who is in need is admirable, and there are no words to express the love and respect towards you.. Thank u very much on behalf of each n every young one like her who lost their livelihoods in this pandemic."
With no other jobs available, Sharada opted for selling vegetables because her father Venkataiah was also in the same business.
Talking to a news channel, she said: "There is nothing to ashamed of. It was a question of survival. I have been able to pay our house rent, meet all our family needs and we can live an honourable life with our hard work."
The economic slowdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown has led to thousands of people losing their jobs around the country. In fact, a report showed that at least 86 per cent Indians fear that they will lose their jobs during the pandemic.
