The city witnessed a rare instance of charity under the initiative of a team of good Samaritans from Kottuli on the day of Thiruvonam here on Friday. As many as 200 families, living in the city suburb, came together to gift a sumptuous ‘Onasadya’ to hundreds of the hapless street dwellers in Kozhikode.
The neighborhood community has stuck to the custom for the past 10 years. The family members, especially the homemakers, wake up very early in the morning to prepare the traditional Onasadya and cater it to the wanderers by 12 noon. A team of youths aligned to the Yuvadhara local club at Kottuli too come in to help.
M. Anilkumar and Susmitha, a couple from Kottuli shared that they were part of the initiative for the past eight years. “We would give two or three food packets to the youth team every year. The youth volunteers would come to our homes with special containers and collect the food items,” they shared.
The main specialty of the voluntary initiative was the sharing of the same food they cooked up for Onam celebration at home. No one was insisted to contribute a fixed number of food packets as they were free to donate items according to their financial capability.
K.T. Suhaj and Vinod Kumar, two residents from the region shared that all the households in their area were keen on preparing the dishes for Thiruvonam and hand them over to the youth organisation representatives. “Everything would be ready by 11 a.m. and our family members are very happy to support the initiate,” they said.
According to the neighborhood group members, their effort would air a novel message to masses on the importance of true social concern for the poor. Even during the season of Vishu, we would come together for feeding the poor people on the streets, the added.
Pinky Pramod, a housewife in Kottuli said the residents association members were very cooperative, “For us, Onam would be an occasion for collective celebration other than opting for exclusive merriment,” she said.
