Caring for downtrodden: Serving the poor, with love

Madurai: Inspired by the divine teachings of Tamil saint Thiru Arutprakasa Chidambaram Ranalingam, popularly known as Vallalar, Gandhimathi used to attend Avaval (joint prayer for the welfare of humanity) in a house near Kela Masi street in Madurai 20 years ago, which is when she met Siva Anbanantham, a Sangmarga Anbargal.

Siva Anbanantham, a staunch Vallalar devotee, spent most of his time serving the community by providing free food for the destitute and elders and so his family left him. Seeing him struggling single-handedly to mobilise funds and also cook the food to provide the free meals, Gandhimathi and a few other people helped him in preparing the food. That was 16 years ago.

Today, Gandhimathi, who is 67 years old, is serving the meals at the same platform near BSNL exchange at East Masi street, mobilising funds with the support of philanthropists and youth volunteers.

When Anbanantham died at the age of 85 due to cancer four years ago, Gandhimathi, a construction worker, was distressed because about 100 people would have to go without food, as his free meal service was most likely to come to an abrupt end on his demise.

“When I was seated in front of a picture of Vallarar reciting arutperum jothi arut perum jothi in my house, I received a call from Manikandan ayya. When I expressed my inability to carry on with the service Anbanantham used to provide the destitute and the elderly, he assured me he would provide all the support, more particularly in mobilising funds which I was not capable of at that point in time,” recalls Gandhimathi.

Now, every day, Gandhimathi prepares food along with her two daughters in her small house of 500 square feet with three rooms. The family uses 2 rooms for preparing the food for a free meal in the morning hours that they serve to the needy.

Anbanantham’s last words were — “Please serve food for the poor people who will be waiting for their one meal of the day near the telephone exchange and then attend my funeral”. He was on his deathbed when he said this to VP Manikandan, who then persuaded Gandhimathi to continue Anbanantham’s service to humanity.

Manikandan (43) was the secretary to the MD of AVN Arogya Ayurvedic Centre, Madurai and he had been rendering financial support to Siva Anbunathan for more than 12 years and he continues to provide it to Gandhimathi.

After preparing the meals, Gandhimathi would offer a prayer to Vallalar in her house and then take the food in a tricycle to the spot at around 10.00 am. The elders would be sitting in two rows on the uneven and narrow footpath eagerly waiting for the food. A small signboard depicted with a picture of Vallarar mentioning “free food would be served here”. A big lamp located adjacent to the BSNL exchange was the meeting point for people who come in search of that free meal.

“I have two daughters and two sons, all are living in Madurai, but they refused to provide shelter and food to me. I survive only on this one meal,” said 70-year-old Alagar. It was same story with Jeyakumar (65), a carpenter, whose children also deserted him. “Without this meal, I would have been forced to beg for my sustenance,” he said.

Many load men and tricycle drivers working in the fruit market in the area and rag pickers depend on this one free meal because they can’t afford to eat in the hotels. “If I work for the entire day, I earn only Rs 150. With this meagre amount, it is not possible to eat in hotels because a meal costs Rs 60,” said Rangarajan (65), a tricycle driver.

As soon as they spot Gandhimathi approaching them, they all stand up to greet her. After serving the food on banana leaves to the people, she would light the lamp and recite a prayer for Vallalar. The elders would stand up on the footpath and repeat the prayer before starting to eat. “I see the light in their eyes when they thank me after they finish eating. It brought me a realisation that God is with poor people,” Gandhimathi says in a voice choking with emotion.

The poor people might sleep on the roadside and wear dirty clothes, but they are pure at heart, she said adding that feeding the people who are in need and hungry was more important than doing rituals in the temple.

When Gandhimathi was packing up the things after having served a meal for the day, Balasubramanian (78), a retired government employee donated Rs 4,000 to her. “Donating money for this cause gives me peace of mind,” he said and he is a long time donor now.

Another important contribution to this mission comes from banana leaf merchant M. Velayutham (65), a Vallalar devotee from Nagamalai Pudukottai. He had been providing banana leaves free for nearly 20 years to Anbanantham. After Anbanantham’s demise, Velayutham has also taken up the responsibility of supplying vegetables. “My wife’s death made me realise that money can’t bring back life,” Velayutham said. He also strongly believes in the principles of Vallalar of treating all human beings with self-respect and of feeding the poor.

The members of the youth volunteer group Padikkattugal and some business establishments like Chennai Silks are also regularly contributing to the mission, mainly due to the trust they have in Gandhimathi, who also received an award for her service recently.

However, what cause worries Gandhimathi now is that she is finding it difficult to move around to carry out the mission because of her injured leg. But she strongly believes Vallalar would carry forward the service through another person even after her lifetime. So abiding is her faith in the mission of providing the all-important meal to the poor.