A 19-year-old girl from Kerala caught media attention last month after a photograph of her selling fish in her college uniform went viral. Soon enough, the story of Hanan, the financially challenged student from a broken family, with big dreams and an unbeatable spirit was the talk of the town.
Hanan, who works odd jobs taking tuitions, as an anchor, dubbing artist and in call centres, started receiving support from politicians, actors and directors as she rose to fame.
However, true to its insensitive side, the internet trolls creeped out and started raising baseless allegations against Hanan calling her a fraud. They accused her selling fish was just a farce and a publicity stunt to promote an upcoming movie. The backlash from social media forced her to take the media’s help again in a bid to clear the air. Her friends also came out in support of the girl asking the naysayers to see her in real life before passing judgement.
The tides turned for Hanan after that, and she was soon receiving opportunities to appear at several events.
She also received financial aid from many good-hearted people who were moved by her story. Many started transferring money to her account as the Internet was trolling her and she soon received around ₹1.5 lakh in total.
Now, while Kerala faces a calamity like never before, Hanan is passing on the good deed and donating all of it to the Chief Minister’s relief fund.
Speaking to The News Minute, Hanan says:
“I am merely giving back what I received from the people. Now they are all suffering and it is the least I can do.”
The third-year B.Sc Chemistry student who herself has taken refuge in a hospital in Ernakulam’s Kothamangalam town continues:
“On the second day of trolling, I started receiving money in 500s and 2000s into my account. This added up to ₹1.5 lakh. Now the people who helped me are facing huge losses and I want to give back their money.
I have been trying to deposit the money into the CM’s relief fund. But I’ve had no mobile connectivity and the banks too have been shut. So I will either transfer the amount tomorrow or directly meet and hand over the cheque to the CM in two days.”
She confirms that she will be returning the entire amount she received and will only be retaining whatever she had saved up from her many jobs.
Even amid the dire situation with her brother in a boarding school and her mother having taken shelter at a relative’s house, she jokingly says:
“I can’t step out of here as there’s water on all three sides. But thankfully, I don’t have to worry about my house drowning as I don’t have one.”
Now, here’s a girl who came from nothing and it yet doing her part to help out those in need. At the same time, a lot of us have turned a blind eye to the disaster that has struck out brethren in the south. Kerala is facing the worst flood it has in 100 years. Rescue operations are still underway with thousands yet to find shelter. Hanan has done her part, have you?