MUMBAI: The world came crashing down for Chennai when the floods hit the city. However, hope in the city was not abandoned, as many helping hands came forward, and one such hand was that of RJ Balaji of Big FM Chennai.
When it all began, the RJ got onto social media to update one and all about the situation. Soon he moved out to help the ones in need. However, in this he was not all alone, for the RJ’s actor friend Siddharth of ‘Rang De Basanti’ fame also joined him. Soon they were joined by hundreds and thousands of people who just wanted to save as many lives as they could. “None of us expected so many people to join us but they did. In fact nobody in the city waited for the authorities to come and rescue them, people took charge. I too did my bit as a human being and not an RJ,” said Balaji.
Water has drained out of the city currently, and life is getting back to normalcy for a few, but not for all. And Balaji is trying his bit to help the ones in need. “Office goers like us are back on track, but rehabilitation for the others will take a good six to twelve months,” explained the RJ while adding, “A lot of people wanted to send in funds for the flood victims and we started saving them in an account for the victims. Back then we felt that we would need it for more food, water and other necessities for the people, but, then most of it came. Thus, the money was kept safely. We knew that Chennai would need a lot more help than just food and water. Now, we are working towards helping small entrepreneurs who lost their livelihoods.”
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Balaji and his team are tying up with NGOs of various communities to identify the ones truly in need. Once they identify the victims, they will help them in setting up their business. More like buying a sewing machine for a tailor who lost his machine in the floods, etc.
“Everything happened out of an emotional spear for both me and Siddharth. And we did not just want to limit this to immediate flood relief. We wanted to help people get back to their normal lives, and that is exactly what we are working towards now,” stated Balaji.
RJ Balaji has called this initiative ‘Chennai Micro’. However, he is not looking at building this as property. This initiative will be limited to Chennai and Kadalur flood victims as he explained, “I am not a social worker or a disaster manager. I am just someone who wants to help people, and I will just do that.”
The RJ has earlier helped a 13-year-old girl in need for heart. Talking about the same he said, “I have been in radio for 10 years, hence everything is spontaneous for me. When I heard about this girl, I knew I had to do something about it. I recorded a video around her and we managed to get a donor in the next 15 days.
