Ayaan Sharma, a former Film Maker, has been engaged in multiple welfare activities especially during the pandemic induced lockdown in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu-Manali.

A native of Kullu-Manali, Sharma pursued the media professional’s life for a brief but significant time. He is now engaged in full time in the uplift of locals.

The tourism in Kullu-Manali has been hugely affected due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The hill station, which is dependent on tourism as a major source of livelihood, has struggled to manage the basics during these trying times.

Ayaan Sharma through the Madan Lal Sharma Foundation, which is named in honor of his late grandfather, has been involved in multiple welfare activities in the town.

The Foundation have successfully installed automatic hand sanitizer dispersal machines and distributed sanitizers to the people.

They recently conducted a health monitoring programme for the local police personnel by installing Glucometers, BP monitors, Oxymeters, and weighing scales across police stations. This was done to facilitate early detection of stress and lifestyle induced conditions.

He is also into organizing cricket tournaments in the town under the name of Kullu Super League which is a T20 tournament match for the Madan Lal Sharma Memorial cup.

Ayaan’s family is pioneers in the hospitality industry in the Kullu-Manali region, and his great grandfather, Pandit Chanan Ram was the Vice President of the Congress party of Kullu-Manali. He was also a freedom fighter who won the ‘Taamra patra’.

His father, Atul Sharma is a hotelier and industrialist, engaged in the supplying of materials for tunnel drilling and blasting. Ayaan himself is a singer and cricket enthusiast.

He has been instrumental in the socio-cultural development of the region and has often been very vocal about local art and artisans.

Ayaan 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.

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, Amitabh Sharma has also planned to start Heli Hiking in the area which will be the first of its kind in India.

He has recently organized a Mountain Biking activity, an innovative and interesting initiative that brought adventure enthusiasts together and also helped promote local sport.

People consider him to be the ‘voice’ of Kullu-Manali 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.