When two philanthropists and visionaries met under one roof
By Bipin Sharma
Dr Pawan Agrawal, Brand Ambassador of Mumbai Dabbawala and eminent motivational speaker recently visited World renowned Ayurveda and Beauty Ambassador Shahnaz Husain in the capital. Besides being experts in their respective fields, Shahnaz Husain and Dr Pawan Agrawal have carved a special niche for themselves as ‘philanthropists’.
As part of her skill development initiatives, Shahnaz Husain has trained many visually impaired and deaf and dumb students in the finer nuances of beauty business, and thus played a key role in making them financially empowered. Dr Pawan Agrawal on the other hand, has educated close to 5000 students from the slums and the economically weaker sections of the society.
The two stalwarts discussed their future plans, and Dr Pawan took great pride in sharing the remarkable contribution of Mumbai Dabbawala.
During the meeting, Shahnaz Husain shared, “I have dedicated myself to empower the physically challenged with my free beauty training courses, Shamute and Shasight for the speech and hearing, and the visually challenged respectively. I have perpetually endeavoured to empower the less privileged by providing them with opportunities to be financially independent and self-reliant. The teachers from the Shahnaz Husain Beauty Academy are specially trained to teach students who are physically challenged. I have also written a beauty book, which has been put into Braille. I have pledged to train the students in hand-made soap making and the label will mention that it has been made by the visually challenged. The proceeds will go towards their betterment. Another pertinent point that I need to share is my commitment to “natural care and cure. As a policy, I have always believed in protecting the environment and not disturbing it in any way. In fact, I opened the windows of the world to nature, herbal beauty care and eco-friendly products. Eco-friendly products are those that do not lead to pollution or toxicity of the environment. We follow the Ayurvedic system and do not disturb the environment in any way through our manufacturing processes. Our products contain plant extracts and other natural substances, which are biodegradable, unlike synthetic substances. We do not allow animal testing and do not use animal products in our formulations. Our manufacturing processes do not use up valuable energy and do not emit green house gases and other pollutants. We also set up our herb and flower farm near Delhi, following methods of organic farming, using natural composts and fertilizers. This keeps the soil free of chemical pollutants. It also serves the greater purpose of preserving the environment. The need of the hour is to also contribute towards the cleanliness drive, started by Prime Minister Modi, on a personal and collective level. We should work towards increasing awareness about pollution and the need to maintain cleanliness both at home and outside. The urgent need is to decrease pollutants and achieve a clean country with healthy citizens.”
Dr Agrawal seemed all praise for the living legend Shahnaz Husain, and lauded her for empowering countless women all over the globe with her specialized beauty training courses, as well as for globally promoting Ayurveda.
