January 14, 2011 (Sampurn Wire): Whatever actress Sonam Kapoor does, she does it in style, be it her swanky dresses in Aisha or donating gifts for charity. Sonam bought 3000 kites and phirkis for the occasion of Makar Sakranti, but not for herself of course, she gifted them to the tiny tots at Arya Vidya Mandir school in Juhu which happens to be her alma mater. She was not physically present as she was out of town for some shoot. She did write to the principle of Arya Vidya Mandir apologizing for her absence.

She also mentioned in the letter that the strings sent along with the kites are not glass coated but normal cotton ones. Glass coated razor sharp strings can cause serious injuries to birds flying up in the sky and she being a member of PETA, wanted to spread the awareness. She also mentioned that as a kid, she very seriously injured herself once with the maanja, and did not want the same to happen to the kids of Arya Vidya Mandir. She mentioned that she badly wanted to be present at the school and personally give away the kites but could not do so.

A PETA spokes person mentioned that children love animals and they would never want to hurt them intentionally. If awareness can be spread among these kids, then it will automatically trigger the usage of cotton strings. Children must know that maanjas are equally harmful for them and other living creatures.

--Sampurn Wire