These homemakers have been cooking for their families for years. And now they have stepped out of their own kitchens to feed people without families.
Barely four months ago, the idea struck R.Deepa, J.Vijaya, Amutha, Murugeswari, Shanthi, Maheshwari and Subbulakshmi during their daily evening banter. It was of course induced by L. Amuthan, a social worker from the same area who asked them if they could spare time to cook food for the people in old age homes and orphanages. And the hearts of these seven friends suddenly seemed to burst with empathy for others.
Earlier, we were so caught up in our domestic chores or bogged down by the routine of our daily living that we never thought we could help others, says Subbalakshmi.
Food was perhaps the instant binding factor, says Murugeswari, because we all know to cook and also believe that food is a fundamental to life well-lived.
It took the women less than a day to team up as the Bharathi Chellamma Group. An immediate door-to-door collection for cash or kind was met with friendly response and good support from their neighbours, friends and acquaintances in the neighbourhood. “Everybody understood that when we share food we share love too,” says Dheepa, “and that adds meaning to life.”
The first round of appeal yielded 10 kilos of rice, 2.5 kg dal, 25 kilos of assorted vegetables, two litres each of milk, oil and sugar and the women decided to give a Pongal feast to 50-odd children at an orphanage in Vilangudi.
They admit it was much more fun to collectively cook in a makeshift kitchen under a tree than to watch TV serials at home. They started at 7 a.m. and whipped up a tasty meal in four hours. But their service did not end there. They took the food in a tricycle to the orphanage and served the food to the children aged between three and 15 years.
“It was an emotional moment,” says Shanthi. “The children clapped and lapped up the food. It was a pleasure to watch them eat to their heart’s content with their smiling faces,” adds Maheshwari.
That day was the start of a service which these seven women cannot live without now. We initially planned to cook and feed once a month but we do it every weekend now, says Amutha, adding, “it is a different feeling when you feed those who are in need of love and care”.
There are many sponsors and donors who gift a meal to old age homes and orphanages on special occasions. But not many have the time or inclination to oversee the feeding.
“The real difference is in serving the food and helping them to eat,” says Murugeswari. Now, she says, whenever they leave The Humanist Home for children at Vilangudi, the Shelter for Homeless at Sellur, Old age home at Pykara, or the Sakthi Trust in Usilampatti, the inmates check with them excitedly when they will return. “Some also joyfully or jokingly place their demands,” she adds.
It is this interaction that develops bonding, says Dheepa.
What surprises her is the over-booked calendar of these Homes. “But Sundays are usually lean and we have also reserved some auspicious days and festivals in advance to deliver our home-cooked food, she says.
Ask them why are they doing this work and pat comes the unanimous answer: For ‘tripti’ (satisfaction). These women do not earn a penny and often donate from their own pockets in case of any shortfall. But they are happy to spend their time productively and count on the blessings received.
Within a short time people have taken note of their good intention.
Not only donations come by even from strangers but donors also approach them for cooking a meal on their behalf for distribution in various Homes across the city. The ladies know their days are getting busier but do not mind taking on more requests. “We can do it on a daily basis and cook for 200 people at one go,” says Vijaya.
So much of what we do is about us only, says Shanthi. We make all our family recipes in a very homely style and that is what makes us so likeable, she says. Between the seven of us with our respective knowledge, experience and culinary skills, the sky is the limit in terms of what we can offer, adds Amutha.
The small team of these simple and humble lower middle class women is extremely motivated. They realise that delicious meals are a luxury for many and thinking about them is heartbreaking. On this Tamil New Year day, they prepared a special meal complete with additional poriyal and kuttu and payasam for the children in the orphanage.
Such happiness we have not experienced before, says Maheshwari and adds, when we cook daily at home and feed our families it is an activity taken for granted. “But now all the appreciation for the food we cook and acknowledgement of our effort is very touching.”
(Making a difference is a fortnightly column about ordinary people and events that leave an extraordinary impact on us. E-mail soma.basu@thehindu.co.in to tell her about someone you know who is making a difference)
