Silent help to public
K. Kaliappan (left) and Mani, an auto driver, doing the rounds.It is 7.30 p.m. The outer pavement of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital witnesses a buzz. An autorickshaw drives in. The familiar face of its driver, Mani, peeps out. He is swarmed by a number of alms-seekers and whoever is in need of food .Out come the 50 food packets — idli, uppuma, oothapam, varieties of rice and even buns — from the vehicle, so that the deprived lot hanging around the hospital won’t go to bed with empty stomachs.This has been happening on all days except Sundays for the past four years. This takes place not only in front of the General Hospital but also in front of the church on Nanjappa Road, the mosque on the Trichy Road, the temple at Siddhapudur, another at Ram Nagar and the one on Avanashi Road. It is a silent service by a group of people that craves no publicity. It doesn’t have a name and has not been registered. The group has no leader. It has no formal membership and is run purely by volunteers and it seeks no donations. It does everything on its own, from the money that comes through word of mouth. “All that we want is to encourage the children to think of charity as there is so much of satisfaction in hearing the totally deprived lot blessing you and hence we specifically request those who donate to send their children to the spot where the food packets are distributed,”, says K. Kaliappan, a retired accounts officer of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), one of the prime movers.
Kaliappan and about half a dozen like-minded people from his native village Kavalipalayam, near Punjai Puliampatty, about 60 km from Coimbatore, who knew each other from their childhood, joined hands to do something for the alms-seekers, people who are normally found outside the shrines and hospitals waiting eagerly for a couple of coins from the hands of devotees and visitors to fall.“It all began on April 8, the birthday of a friend’s wife, in 2003.When we started, all that we could do was to provide 15 packets. Now we have reached a stage of providing 50 packets a day, six days a week, even in pouring rain.”
All that the group, comprising Kaliappan, K.A. Chinnaraj, a Trustee of Kovai Kalaimagal College and his wife R. Kokilavani Chinnaraj, a lecturer in Kongu Nadu Arts College, N. Viswanathan, Managing Director of a foundry, and K.M. Subramanian,an engineer with the TNEB, does is to maintain a list of the wedding days and birth days of about 150 people and their children and greet them on such occasions. “Money comes on its own though we do not request any of them to donate anything. We are now in such a situation that many people whom we do not even know have also started contributing on their own. Those who celebrate marriages also contribute,” points out Mr. Kaliappan.
The most interesting feature of this entire saga is the contribution of autorickshaw driver Mani and A.S. Fast Food Restaurant owner, Sridhar. Mani ensures distribution every day just collecting Rs. 40 a day though it takes a substantial amount of his time and he travels quite a distance. Even this amount is credited to his account to pay for his vehicle loan. And Sridhar collects just seven rupees per packet. Both never wait for the payment. “Even when none of us could take part, these two saw to it that these 50 people were fed,” compliments Kaliappan. On quite a few occasions, when the food packets fell short of requirement, they were purchased from stalls in the vicinity so that not a single person would feel rejected.
The service costs about Rs 10,000 a month and the money has not been a constraint at all as various people contribute in some way or the other. For instance, Mr.Chinnaraj, who happens to get a sitting fee for attending meetings, donates it. “We want to do it even on Sundays but the number of people requiring our assistance on these days is pretty small.” The group has plans on the anvil to help out an old age home also.
