I agreed and as per prior arrangement went to his house in the morning at around 7.30 a.m.
I could see quite a few volunteers and 'Sambhar Rice' ( cooked Rice mixed with South Indian Gravy with Lentils) readily kept in very big vessels. I was told that the food was cooked by Mr. Murugan in his house with his wife's help. He had two small children who were running around the house.
I was offered the rice and though it was an early hour for me to eat rice, I readily agreed and had a plate (biodegradable disposable plate) of rice which was really very tasty. All the volunteers also had their share of the food.
One group of volunteers moved to some places with the food and We as a group of about 8 people went in another direction in a small tempo which was driven by Mr. Murugan himself.
We first went to a home for small children who were street children abandoned by parents or some children who had parents but were very poor to support them. This is run by a semi Governmental organization and the children live there and go to school also from there. The children looked quite healthy and were all smiles.
They were made to sit on floor with their clean steel plates in front of them. First one packet of glucose biscuit was distributed to them and then the food was served. I was asked to serve as I was the sponsor for the day. When they asked if there is any occasion like birthday etc in my family I suddenly remembered that the next day that is 8th August is the birthday of my son Anand. So I told them it is my son's birthday tomorrow. All children joined together in wishing my dear son for his birthday before eating their food. The wishes coming from so many young kids made my eyes moist.
Our next stop was in a place where about 30 mentally ill patients are homed. these were people who looked quite ordinary but very forlorn. I was told that a doctor comes and gives them medicines weekly and many of them are fine but nobody is taking them back into their homes. After serving them the food we went to a near by Beggar's home.
This place housed more than 30 people. All old and worn out. They are kept there so that they don't go out in streets to beg and some sort of food is being provided for them everyday.
Our last stop was an Orphanage which was in a very lovely surroundings. Lots of trees were there around this place and children, disabled people and also very aged people were there . Some of them were not able to move and so others collected food and took for these aged people.
I was very impressed by the way this was done. We quickly distributed the food and kept some more in each place for second helping and moved on. By 9.30 the whole trip was over.
Murugan said that some of the other volunteers have gone to dig the pits to plant the saplings and Murugan and company will go and plant the saplings in the pits which are already dug.
I thought I should join off and on when I visit Coimbatore in this and contribute what ever money and also my time to this even though it may be just few hours.
