Bhumi Didn’t Lend her Name, She Engaged on Ground: Ketto CEO on Actor’s Role in Flood Relief Fundraiser

I think something that really hit me emotionally was when I went to an area where there were about 32 families. All of them had lost their homes and were living in a place infested with snakes and different kinds of insects, without electricity, toilets, or any basic amenities.

That really hit me hard because overnight, your life can be completely disrupted. I remember meeting a woman who broke down and said they just didn’t know what to do from here on. They were also worried about the winter setting in that story really, really deeply impacted me.

Crowdfunding today is a powerful social tool because it democratises relief — small donors can pool resources quickly, stories create urgency, and collective action moves faster than traditional channels.

Our campaign with Bhumi stands out because she didn’t just lend her name: she engaged on the ground, saw the devastation firsthand, and chose to mobilise her platform for both immediate relief and medium-term rehabilitation; we paired that authenticity with Ketto’s rigorous verification (KYC and document checks), partnerships with trusted local NGOs and hospitals, direct transfers where possible, real-time updates for donors, and strict post-campaign accountability.

By combining a credible, empathetic public voice with systems that make every rupee traceable and every intervention measurable — plus efforts to sustain funding and mobilise volunteers beyond the headlines — we turn compassion into tangible, dignified impact for families affected by the floods.

Bhumi: Honestly, for me, using my platform to bring about any kind of change has been pretty much the primary criteria of me being an actor. I feel instilling empathy across communities into people today is honestly the need of the hour.

People think that climate change-related adversities are not limited to them, but we all are going to be affected by it. So apart from whatever happens with this campaign, and I truly hope that we can reach far and wide with it, I want to use this time and this platform and this opportunity, even though it comes at a very, very heavy cost, to let people know that the climate crisis is very real.

We need changes on a policy level. We need to think about what do we do with climate refugees. How do we protect ourselves? How are we better prepared? We need task forces that are implemented. I feel communities have to be trained to deal with the climate crisis in a much better way because that is the reality we are living in.

I think the operational logistical challenges so far have just been reaching people in areas that have been completely cut off. And again, I honestly only had the opportunity to go to Jammu and see it first-hand. And when we went, we were in areas where there was so much, areas where basically the flood water had subsided.

But what was left behind was like deep, like at least like two feet of sand and just like sedimentation that the water left behind. But there are a lot of areas in Himachal and Uttarakhand that have been completely cut off because of the flood-related disasters.

Maybe a bridge that was connecting those communities to the world has been broken or, you know, many instances like that. And that's why we signed up with, we collaborated with DDRF because they have tools and ways of reaching these communities, be it through drones or with the help of the army. So I really hope that when this campaign comes to an end, the real stakeholders that are in real need are truly benefited by whatever aid we can provide to them.

Bhumi’s decision to step in came from being on the ground herself — she visited the flood-hit region in Jammu, witnessed extreme loss and displacement, and felt an urgent responsibility to move beyond words into action.

She reached out to us because she wanted to partner with a platform that values rigorous verification, accountability and transparent fund flow — qualities Ketto has prioritised from day one. The collaboration was born out of mutual belief: her voice and outreach plus our systems and execution can together channel immediate relief and rebuild hope.

At Ketto, transparency and trust are at the heart of everything we do. Every campaign goes through a strict verification process — from KYC checks and hospital document validation to direct fund transfers to hospitals whenever possible — ensuring funds reach the right hands.

Our compliance and trust teams review each case, while donors receive real-time updates, photos, and progress reports so they can see the impact of their contribution. Especially in emotional campaigns, we believe accountability builds compassion — when people know their help is genuinely making a difference, they give with both confidence and heart.

So financial aid will be directly sent to stakeholders. Honestly, on a personal level, apart from this campaign, I have already been in the system helping out people in the best of my capability and capacity, but I realise that collective change is the only way we can create huge impact and that's why I keep reaching out to people and I don't lose out on even a single platform, nationally or internationally, to let people know that we have this campaign on.

The beneficiaries of the campaign, we've slowly, slowly already started some work in J&K, but the real impact would happen once the campaign ends, if we do hit our goal and that's why I really hope that all your readers support us in hitting our goal. But yes, from our end, be it Hossainji, be it I, be it AKRF, or Keto, we all on an individualistic level, also away from the campaign as well, have been extending full support to families that we can do that for.

It’s natural to feel overwhelmed by the constant stream of crises, but every act of help — no matter how small — creates a real ripple of change. At Ketto, we’ve seen how one contribution, one share, or one volunteer hour can save a life or rebuild a family’s future.

The key is to focus on verified, transparent initiatives where you can see the impact of your support. Instead of turning away from compassion fatigue, channel it into consistent, mindful giving — because even in the face of disaster, hope is built one person, one act, one story at a time.

India urgently needs to shift from a reactive disaster relief model to a proactive resilience-building approach. Too often, we mobilise only after tragedy strikes, instead of empowering local communities with the training, tools, and resources to act swiftly in the first crucial hours. What’s needed is decentralised preparedness — transparent systems, sustained funding, and citizen-led networks that make every neighbourhood disaster-ready.

Citizens can drive this change by supporting verified relief initiatives, volunteering locally, and demanding accountability from institutions. When people and policy work together before disaster hits, relief becomes faster, recovery stronger, and lives are truly protected.