#LOCKDOWN HEROES

A large heart is all it takes to help the old & hungry

R Ramesh Shankar & Aditi R TNN

Chennai:5.4.2020

She could do with a little help herself, but M Meena doesn’t hesitate to assist others. A few days ago, during the lockdown, the part-time helper in a private firm was walking home in Thoraipakkam when she saw an elderly man lying on the pavement. When he told her, feebly, that he hadn’t eaten in three days, she brought him some food from home.

“Then I realised there were many like him in my locality. All have been struggling to get one decent meal,” she said.

Meena then made a list of people in urgent need of food. “There were at least 30 homeless people, many of them elderly men and women, who had not eaten for days. I couldn’t get them out of my mind and decided to do my bit.”

She also included around 20 conservancy workers. “They work so hard under the scorching sun, only to make our lives easier,” she said.

For the last two days, Meena and her husband have been walking along OMR and ECR, distributing food to the needy. “I don’t earn very well. I have one child in college and one in school.”

But, she has kept aside a significant amount from her savings to feed the hungry despite being advised to think before spending on people. “I was told that I wasn’t rich enough to do charity. But since I have been through times like these myself, staying hungry, I can relate to what they might be going through.”

Meena had taken help from a woman in her neighbourhood to cook for the hungry, but now she’s decided to do it herself. “Now I have a lot of time on my hands and it wouldn’t be that hard,” she said.

ENOUGH FOR ALL: M Meena (left), who works as a helper, and her husband have been feeding the hungry, including elderly and conservancy workers, along OMR and ECR