This ex Film Maker’s homecoming is a story straight out of a film. Ayaan Sharma, a native of Kullu, pursued the media professional’s life for a brief but significant time- is now back home and has been engaged full time in the uplift of locals.
Due to the ongoing Pandemic, tourism in Kullu has been hugely affected. The town, dependent on it as a major source of livelihood, has struggled to manage the basics. Ayaan, through the Madan Lal Sharma Foundation (named in honor of his late grandfather), has been involved in multiple welfare activities. They have successfully installed automatic hand sanitizer dispersal machines in various parts of the town and distributed sanitizers to the people. The members recently conducted a health monitoring programme for the local police personnel by installing Glucometers, BP monitors, Oxymeters, and weighing scales across police stations to facilitate early detection of stress and lifestyle induced conditions.
Ayaan comes from a very well-known family in the Kullu-Manali region. They are pioneers in the hospitality industry, and his great grandfather- Pandit Chanan Ram was the Vice President of the Congress party of Kullu, and a freedom fighter who won the ‘Taamra Patra’ back in the day. Kullu was a part of the Kangra region and it was in his time that it became Kullu district as we know now. His father, Atul Sharma is a hotelier and industrialist, engaged in the supplying of materials for tunnel drilling and blasting. Ayaan is also a singer and cricket enthusiast. His work has been widely covered by various local and national publications.
It is not just the serious stuff with Ayaan. He also organizes cricket tournaments in the town under the name of Kullu Super League- a T20 tournament match for the Madan Lal Sharma Memorial cup, gathering locals and creating a sense of community and belonging. He has been instrumental in the socio-cultural development of the region and has often been very vocal about local art and artisans. He also creates awareness on various social evils such as child sexual abuse and has been empowering the people of the town to recognize these evils and raise their voice against them. He recently organized a Mountain Biking activity, an innovative and interesting initiative that brought adventure enthusiasts together and also helped promote local sport.
The young leader has a vision for the beautiful valley. His new resort, ‘Whispering Rocks’ will be the first ski resort of Manali, with the first brewery in a hotel in Himachal Pradesh. He has also planned on helping the widows of the village ‘Palchan’- where whispering rocks is situated, by offering experiential travel via village tourism and giving clients the experience of local meals in homes through which these widows will have a source of alternate income. Ayaan and his uncle, Mr. Amitabh Sharma have also planned to start Heli Hiking in the area which will be the first of its kind in India. Taking ahead the aforementioned cricket tournament legacy, he plans on organizing one for the visually challenged. He aims to gradually cover every village in the district, especially those living below poverty line and help them with ration and building a home.
Ayaan has had a life of glamour and limelight in the film industry but the popularity that he gets as a social worker in his native makes it worthwhile. People consider him to be the ‘voice’ of Kullu and he hopes to never let them down, but instead be the torch bearer and lead the way to a brighter future for the town.
