Mamangam star Prachi Tehlan celebrated her birthday on Wednesday at the Goregaon facility of Hi5 Youth Foundation, a sports NGO dedicated to coaching basketball to underprivileged kids.

About 90 kids, aged 10 to 15 years, attended the event, where Prachi – who has played basketball for Delhi for eight long years and has attended national camps for the sports and has represented India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games for Netball – played with the kids.

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“I had been wanting to go to this centre for a long time. But somehow it kept getting postponed as I was busy traveling for my movie promotions. With October 2 being a gazetted holiday, and my birthday, I finally decided to make use of it and visit the kids. I finally got to play basketball with young kids and in a way, inspire them with my own journey. My coach had taught me that while sports is important, you need to focus on studies also as academics help you grow as a sportsperson too. I have personally followed it in my own life and reiterated it to them too. I had a lot of fun with the kids too and thoroughly enjoyed my day,” said Prachi, who will star with legendary actor Mammootty in Mamangam.

Once at the facility located in Motilal Nagar BMC School, Prachi participated in fun games, and a friendly basketball competition with the students. She donated a few basketballs, and chocolates and refreshments to the kids.

Geet Gera, who handles the operations and system part for the NGO, and had invited Prachi to the centre said, “Prachi is my college friend and we have known each other for close to 10 years. We had been in talks for long, but somehow it wasn’t materializing. I am happy the kids finally got to meet her and learn from her on this auspicious day. The day started with interesting and fun drills for the kids by Prachi. The kids loved her journey and asked her many questions about her life.”

Hi5 Youth Foundation has 20 centres across India with 2100 kids. Fifteen of these centres are in Mumbai itself.