Actor Darasing Khurana became the first Asian to be appointed Commonwealth ‘Year of Youth Champion’ this year. Subsequently, he was recently invited to meet Her Majesty Queen Camilla of England, wife of the head of Commonwealth His Majesty King Charles III, in London.
The 32-year-old artist is also the founder of Pause.Breathe. Talk Foundation which was established in the memory of his late friend, fellow actor Sushant Singh Rajput, in 2020. The foundation aims to use the many learnings and insights from its focus on making therapy affordable and accessible for all, especially the youth. “I shared my plans around youth mental health and well-being with Her Majesty and she was really supportive. So, I’m even more pumped now to get on with the work,” reveals Darasing, whose elegant hand-embroidered sherwani by designers Shantanu & Nikhil was admired by the Queen.
Sharing further details about his discussion with the Queen, the actor says, “I explained how we want to work towards a better balance with technology in the life of young people by implementing a Commonwealth-wide programme. She agreed it was absolutely the need of the hour and encouraged me to focus on it.” He adds, “We have come up with a road map which can be merged with the education system in all the Commonwealth countries so that students are taught right from the beginning in their schools on how to maintain a balance with technology in their life.”
Based on research conducted by his foundation, Darasing has pinpointed a drastic drop in concentration and patience levels, and a spike in the anxiety levels among the youth. The primary reason for this is believed to be the overuse of electronics and social media. Through his work with Dr Rekha Chaudhri, founder of World Digital Detox Day, the actor’s focus is on encouraging a lifestyle change that would help the youth harmonise with technology and social media.