CHENNAI: Sometimes a simply ‘constructed’ meal is all you need to feel a little warm on a rainy day. When a slum, behind the home that he runs for the mentally ill, was flooded by the rains, it hardly mattered to humanitarian Iyyappan Subramaniyan that the nearest available kitchen was a construction site.
Instead of just handing out a few food packets or some money, he came up with a plan.
Iyyappan cooked enough sambar rice to feed 500 slum dwellers in Kolathur. It was a godsend for the people stranded in their houses for more than a week. With water restricting access to the markets, and gas stoves located beside ankle-deep water (sometimes more), basic meals were their biggest need.
When he decided that food needed to be cooked, he realised that plenty of ingredients were required – a luxury that wasn’t easy to come by, given Chennai’s recent weather. So he went on Facebook and made an appeal – ‘give me ingredients and I’ll collect them from your doorstep’. “Other welfare organisations like Give India, Chennai Volunteers and the Bhoomika Trust came forward to help as well and I was surprised when 50 people called this morning and offered to help. There was one person who offered `15,000 on the spot. Of course I asked for the same in vegetable supplies, because we only take things in kind, not cash,” he insisted.
At the rather unconventional kitchen in Kolathur, the scene was anything but expected. For starters, cement, bricks and dal don’t usually find themselves in the same vicinity. And a wide spread of carrots, tomatoes and onions rested on a tarpaulin sheet. Telling us about the scale of cooking, Iyyappan said, “It’s roughly 200 kg of rice and `5,000 worth of vegetables per day.” The founder of Sri Arunodayam Charitable Trust, a home for abandoned mentally challenged children, has his own staff whipping up the meal. “Don’t overdo the salt. Many elderly people in the slum are diabetics,” Iyyappan advises the cook watchfully.
His brother-in-law Deepak, an IT professional, has taken a few days off to be a part of this. As Deepak adds a dose of tamarind to the mix, Iyyappan heads towards a vessel of rice, and adds a generous dollop of ghee. “They should know we made this food with care,” he says.
The areas he distributes food in Kolathur include Bharath Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Thirumal Nagar and Lakshmipuram. “We plan to feed the people in these slums at Kolathur for four days and then move to Cuddalore to feed people in other slums,” Iyyappan shares.
After cooking, they loaded a Maruti Omni and a minivan with the first serving of lunch to be sent to Senthil Nagar. At this point, Iyyappan adds, “With the amazing response we’ve received since we put up photos on Facebook on Sunday, we’ve now decided to serve dinner as well.”
As large servings of sambar rice are distributed at the first stop, we notice a little boy, carefully balancing his full plate of sambar rice with both hands as he gleefully trudges through the water to reach his house. That’s a memory we will happily remember, ghee or no ghee!