Divyanshu Upadhyay, secretary of not-for-profit organisation Hope Welfare Trust, vividly remembers the July night when he tagged Farhan Akhtar on a Twitter post. In the tweet, Upadhyay had appealed to people to help his NGO build a house for the Varanasi-based Giri family. In no time, Akhtar had responded, thus marking the beginning of a collaboration based on empathy and kindness. Over the past five months, the actor-filmmaker — away from the media glare — has quietly helped build a home for Ganesh Giri, a Shiv temple priest in Varanasi.

Upadhyay and his NGO workers had come across the priest while distributing ration during the lockdown in May. "He told us that his house was dilapidated. When we visited his home, we could gauge that it would break down any time. He told us that during the monsoons, the hut would leak so badly that his family, including his four children, had to take shelter under the trees," recounts Upadhyay, adding that the NGO immediately extended a helping hand. The team soon spread the word on the crowdfunding platform, Milaap, but couldn't raise enough funds.