A summer initiative from the children of Chintadripet

Children serve buttermilk to passers-by. Photo: Ragu R

Seven-year-old R. Medhansh always looks forward to the next visit to the Shiva temple in Chindratripet, along with his mother and younger sister.

It provides him with an opportunity to feed the three milch cows kept at the temple.

The two children help their mother clean the cow shed and milch the cows, which usually fetch them at least six litres of milk.

The family ferments the milk into curd with which they prepare butter milk the next morning and distribute it for free to walkers and passers-by on Ulagappa Street in the neighbourhood where they are residents for the last three generations.

“Our neighbours’ children also join us in the initiative which help teach these children empathy,” says Nisha Bhandhari, Medhansh’s mother.

Every day, between 10 a.m and 1 p.m, the family, together with the other children in the neighbourhood, distributes butter milk and juices to passers-by. On an average, more than 50 persons get to have free buttermilk.

This distribution work is carried out mainly between March and July every year. Last year, the initiative could not be taken up on account of the complete lockdown.

With rising COVID-19 cases, the parents participating in the initiative make sure that the volunteering children adhere to Covid-19 safety norms such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distance. Beneficiaries are also given free face masks and hand sanitisers.

In the off-season, the milk from the temple cows are turned into curd and distributed to local residents.