During public holidays, when posses of policemen would be posted at places where increased regulation was imperative, Mahaveer Bhandari, a resident of Mylapore, would head there with food and water. He would distribute these to the policemen. Impressed with what his father did, Mahaveer’s son Nitesh Bhandri developed this act of mercy into something larger, a social project called Jeevan Dhan.
Jeevan Dhan features a community refrigerator, where residents and restaurants can place their excess food.
Director of Texonic, Nitesh kickstarted the initiative with Thaligai, a vegetarian restaurant on Luz Church Road, a few weeks ago. The refrigerator has been placed in front of the restaurant.
Long planning
Unlike the Ayyamittu Unn community fridge placed near a tennis court in Besant Nagar, Jeeva Dhan is meant exclusively for placing food, particularly vegetarian food, both home-made and packed.
“This is not part of any corporate social responsibility initiative,” says Nitesh. “I have been planning this project for the last five months. Finding a vegetarian restaurant that would be willing to support us in this work was a challenge.”
For shelter homes
Nitesh says the food kept in the fridge is not just for the poor but for anyone who wants extra food.
“I recently learnt that residents of shelter homes, which serve an early dinner, feel hungry late in the night. In such situations, these food packets come in handy,” he says.
In addition to Thaligai, restaurants such as Mahamudra and Sukha Nivas too drop off their extra food in the community refrigerator.
Nalina Kannan, proprietor of Thaligai, says, “We place the leftover in our kitchen such as kichadi,sambarsaadham and idiyappam in the fridge in the morning. As we do not use onion and garlic, the food is generally fresh and does not emit any odour.
“Additionally, I also refill and keep the water bottles. This way, it will alleviate hunger and reduce plastic pollution.”
She says residents in the neighbourhood have come forward to drop their extra food, including a hand of bananas.
Providing boxes
For those willing to share their excess food, Nitesh and his team have provided boxes.
“To make the process easier, we have placed empty boxes in the fridge and we have also given a few to Thaligai. Restaurants and individuals can use these boxes to transfer their food,” he says.
There are no specific guidelines to be followed before the food is placed in the box except that “it must be vegetarian and fresh”.
More fridges
Soon, the team will place refrigerators near seven or eight restaurants across the city. Creation of a facility to get extra food picked and dropped at any part of the city is also on the anvil.
On ensuring the safety of such facilities, Nitesh says, “Right now, fortunately, the woman who sells flowers in front of Thaligai guards the fridge and warns people to take only one packet per person. Only if absolutely required would she let a person take more than one. We won’t be lucky elsewhere. We have put up a board that instructs one box per person but it is not possible to keep tabs on how many each is picking.”
Nitesh adds, “All we want at this stage is a small space in front of vegetarian restaurants to keep these refrigerators. We will provide the refrigerator and the boxes, and even pay the electricity bill.”
To get in touch with the Jeevan Dhan team, call 79042 30345.
