Varun Grover: National Award prize money will be returned to where it belongs

Bollywood lyricist and a self-professed Lucknowite, Varun Grover is in news these days not just for winning the National Award for the lyrics of ���Moh Moh Ke Dhage,��� but also for donating the entire prize money of Rs 50,000 for the welfare of farmers in Maharashtra. Joining hands with Grover in this cause is Neeraj Ghaywan, who has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film, for ���Masaan,��� this year.Together the duo is contributing Rs 1 lakh and trying to generate more funds, to help the drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra.
Speaking to us on phone from Mumbai, Grover said he and Ghaywan will ensure that the money reaches the right people for whom it is meant. ���We are talking to experts working on the ground in Marathwada on how to utilise this fund. A lot of people have pledged to contribute for the cause. So, together I think we will be able to collect a substantial amount. When it's a bigger amount then we can get rain water harvesting plants in one or two villages. That way it won���t just benefit a few people, it will be of use for the whole village and not just for this year, but several years to come. We are thinking of some long term projects, that's why we are researching how and who can do it best. I think it will still take us about a week or so to get down to actually doing it," says the writer who has written popular songs including ���Womaniya,��� ���Hunter��� and ���Jiya Tu.���

But the thought of doing something for the farmers is not just a random one. Grover says it had been on his mind for a while now. ���This had been on my mind since a long time and we had been trying to help to alleviate the condition of the farmers. But this year it���s (the drought) is a bit too much. We hear of farmers' suicide every year, it���s not a new phenomena. The situation is grim not just in Maharashtra, but in so many other places like in Bundelkhand in UP and in Andhra Pradesh too. When I got the opportunity I felt I should do something. Aadmi ko agar lottery lag jaye toh aap sochte hain ki lottery ke paise ka kya karen. So it was the same with me. Ab lottery lagi hai toh isko wapas kahin achhi cheez ke liye utilise kiya jaye. Iss paise ko wahin pahuncha diya jaaye jahan se aaya hai. Means, sarkaar ka paisa hai toh sarkaar hi ki jo zimmedari hai ussi mein jod diya jaaye,��� says Grover.
Known for standing up for social causes, Grover was one of the front runners on Twitter in supporting Krishan Kumar, the elderly typist whose typewriter had been kicked and broken by a cop last year in Lucknow. ���Aise logon ko support karna banta hai. Yeh sab toh mujhe lagta hai ki isme kuchh extra ordinary nahi hai, jo hum kar rahe hain. This should be the normal course of life. If you don���t react to what���s happening around you, then artiste toh baad ki baat hai, aap insaan hi nahi hain. I was just reacting to the world around us and doing the best possible that I can.���
Belonging to Himachal Pradesh originally, Grover calls himself a Lucknowite because he spent most of his growing up years ��� from 1991-2007 ��� in Lucknow. ���I have spent 16 precious years of my life in Lucknow. Toh Lucknow hi mera shaher hai, aur koi shehar mera hai hi nahi!��� says Grover, adding, ���Ab of course my father has retired so he doesn���t live there anymore, but my childhood was spent in Gomti Nagar, first in Vijay Khand and then in Vishwas Khand,��� says Grover, who studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Gomti Nagar and went on to pursue Civil Engineering from Banaras Hindu University.
Grover has fond memories of Lucknow, and says, ���Yaadein toh Lucknow ki bahot hain. Magar sabse zyada yaad hai Pratibha aur Novelty mein filmein dekhna. I remember once, three of us friends including Sandeep Singh, who is now a lecturer in Allahabad University, had gone to watch Govinda���s ���Hero No. 1��� in Pratibha. That day they had a lucky draw which was being given seat number wise. So I was one of the winners and was gifted a fan. We sold that fan back to the theatre manager for `350 and uss paise se phir hum teeno ne ja ke Bhootnath pe ek chhota sa restaurant hua karta tha, wahan pe Chinese khaya. So aisi bahot achhi yaadein hain Lucknow ki,��� recalls Grovers.
���I keep coming to Lucknow. Wahan abhi bhi bahot se dost hain. I also visit my school whenever I come there. And I will be visiting the city very soon,��� says Grover who���s awaiting the release of ���Udta Punjab,��� for which he���s written the songs.
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