Kajol Devgan

Okay, so I have this huge, big, pointer paper in front of me. I don't know how much of it I'm actually going to be able to read. But let's start with the most obvious question that, I think, everybody has on their minds as to why this particular cause?

Why me? Why this particular cause? Because I truly believe in it. I think it's something that, we can make a difference to.

I think it's a it's something that we can make a difference with, and as a country, we can do it. It's not only a question of, it's not only just me. Yes, I may be able to affect my environment, but if you join me, you will be able to affect your environment, and I will be able to affect mine.

And it's, it's like, you know, everybody's saying, "But you know, only I can't make a difference." Yes, you can. I believe that. Like Sanjiv was talking about, the Swachhta Doot, the messenger of change.

I think that's a very interesting way of putting it. When we speak about Swachh Aadath, Swachh Bharat, we talk about changing a thought pattern. We talk about changing a way of thinking so that we can get a better future, not only for ourselves, but for our children and for the next generation for that matter.

And that's exactly what we have planned with all the Playing Billion. We want the country to have that kind of health and to have a next gen that understands that we took their health seriously, and we did something about it. As far as the three habits are concerned, it's something that we have been taught probably from childhood.

It's not something that we are initiating new, newly, or it's not something so very, you know, alien to us. As a culture, we have understood it from the time that we were kids. Our parents, our grandparents, our great In my case, my great-grandmother as well, has, you know, kind of taught us as children.

We are a culture of words, probably more than visual or we are an, we are a verbal culture. We remember what our parents and our grandparents have taught us because they've been telling us, so they have passed the stories down, passed the traditions down to us as children. And as grown-ups, I hope that I will be able to pass that on to my children as well.

And this, I think these three habits of having clean water, clean toilets, and washing your hands with soap, I think these three habits, where earlier they were tradition, they were culture, have now become a necessity. Today, we can change our habits and change our country because of that. And like I said before, why am I here?

I think because the next generation is important. And I saw this amazing video on YouTube. I don't know whether I put it out on Twitter or not, but I saw this amazing video where this 13-year-old stood up on stage, and she talked about what her world was like versus what our world is like today.

And she said, "Where, you know, you all could go freely and play in the mud whenever you like. Today, we don't have that much mud to play around in. Where you all had rivers, where you had flowing healthy, you know, rivers, and you had so much to watch, to see, to experience.

We have dirty, polluted water. We can't even see a river in places." So I think that's why I am here today.

I am here for the next generation. I am here so that our children, I wouldn't say mine, but our children can probably stand up and say and that they're proud of us for taking our world and them and their future seriously, and maybe to stand up and do something about it. Rather than just standing up and saying, "Oh, you know, there's nothing that I can do about it."

Yes, you can. Every one of us can stand up and take just that little bit of social responsibility and stand up and say, "Okay, I may not be the richest man in the world, or I may not be the most, you know, the most influential man in the world, but at least I can influence my own environment, and I can influence the people around me to better habits."

And really, it's honestly simple. That's one of the things that, I did at home, just to give you a, just to give you an example. So we have servants from all over the country who come and stay with us, obviously.

So that was one of the things that we had to educate them about, was that how clean water makes a difference, how a clean toilet makes a difference to them. When they are living with us, they realize the importance of clean water, clean hands, because I scream and shout my guts out that they have to wash their hands before they wash my vegetables. And a, and a clean toilet.

And at the end of it, they are healthier. They rarely fall sick for that very reason, and they're gonna go back And they're going to go back to their villages and to their families, and they're gonna go back with these habits. So that is a, just a small change.

That's just a small thought process change that we have affected, that I have affected, and I'm sure a lot of people have affected in their homes and lives. And I think that that's where we came up with the Playing Billion idea as well. And I have really that nothing more to say besides the fact that, you know, we believe that cleanliness is next to godliness.

And if godliness, if we all inspire, aspire towards godliness, I think the first step towards that would be to make a cleaner, better India. Thank you. So ladies and gentlemen, as a token of our appreciation HUL will be sponsoring the Swachh Aadats Swachh Bharat hygiene check for one year for these children and their families.

And well, if we have now taught them the three habits and given them the products to help them follow these three habits, I'm sure that they will be able to play every day. So here's some cricketing gear for them as well. All right? And I'm sure the kids will never forget this special moment and this wonderful applause that you've given them.

So I'd like, all of you now that you've taken your photograph with them, and they have the best memories to take back with them. So here's the check.