Around 120 children living in remote hamlets in Bargur hills, of which many had never stepped out of their hamlets, had a reason to smile as they had biryani feast for the first time in their life on Sunday.
On November 24, 2019, a Salem-based garment exporter sponsored chicken biryani for 170-odd children from remote hamlets at Thamaraikarai. Due to problems in commuting, over 100 children in Kongadai and Agnipavi and Osur, all located in West Bargur Hills, were left out. Hence, a friends team from Salem, comprising K. Ali Jan, Noor Mohammed, M. Manivannan, A. Manoharan, D. Jegadesh and V. Mohana Sundaram, decided to sponsor biryani for the left out children.
The team members arrived at Thamaraikarai on March 6 and made arrangements for the cooking and taking the children in vehicles from the hamlets. Later, the children were served biryani on Sunday afternoon. Organisers said that interaction with children revealed that many did not venture out of their hamlets so far.
Kongadai is located 24 km away from Thamaraikarai that lacks basic amenities and only a TNSTC bus is operated to the hamlet everyday. Since there is little scope for earnings, most of the families move to Valparai or Kerala to work in estates and return occasionally to their hamlets. “Most of these children are taken care of by their grandparents or sometimes they move along with their parents to work place”, said coordinator Anbu who added that lockdown had hit them severely.
After the feast, the children were transported in vehicles to their hamlets.
