MUMBAI: Thums-Up Being Human VEER in association with CNN-IBN and American India Foundation (AIF), have started VEER, an awareness and fundraising campaign to unleash the potential of persons with disabilities (PwD) and make them employable. At the gala grand finale of this unique initiative held in Mumbai recently, we celebrated the rise of some of India’s most well known PwDs and took up the need for enabling PwDs by recognising their inner abilities.

Led by campaign ambassador Salman Khan, the panellists stressed the need to change social mindsets towards disability. The expert panel included: Sudha Chandran, Bharatanatyam dancer and actor; lyricist and poet Prasoon Joshi; Hemanth Paul, Country Director, AIF; Debabrata Mukerjee, Vice President, Marketing and Commercial at Coca-Cola India; Neelam Jolly, Founder, Vishwas; Prasana Karmakar, Arjuna awardee para swimmer; Mithu Alur, Founder, ADAPT; actor Anupam Kher; and Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, Founder, War Wounded Foundation.

During the event, the stage was taken over by breathtaking performances by PwDs. The performers included students of VMS School who performed malkhamb, visually impaired signer Diwakar, and partially blind standup comedian Sundeep Rao among others. Various celebrities such as Anup Soni, Gulshan Grover, Rahul Roy, Vishakha Singh, Sushant Singh, Swara Bhaskar, and Urvashi Dholakia also attended the event and lent their support to the campaign.

Catch the Grand Finale of Veer on Saturday, March 29, at 9:30 PM on CNN-IBN & at 10:00 PM on IBN7; and on Sunday, March 30 at 10:00 PM on CNN-IBN & at 12:00 PM on IBN7.