CHENNAI: In 2001, Chennai-native K Srinivasulu suffered a heart attack and had to undergo a life-saving surgery. The whole traumatic experience was such that it changed his perception of life forever, the 45-year-old recalls now.
“I realised the value of life and ever since, I have not just been working towards improving mine, but also the lives of hundreds of others,” he says. With a heart filled with compassion, he embarked upon a mission with empathy at its core and started the rescue and rehabilitation of scores of homeless people from streets across the State.
“In 2004, when I was still figuring out how to help people, my friend rescued a homeless man from a footpath in Pattalam. Hundreds passed by him daily, and nobody even paid an ounce of attention. That man was sleeping with a bedsheet on and when we removed the sheet, we found that his leg was completely infected as he was bitten by a mouse. He was slowly being poisoned by it. The whole process of helping him gave me joy,” he says.
Following that eye-opener incident, Srinivasulu independently started helping the homeless in 2006. So far, he has helped admit more than 300 such persons to shelter homes. In collaboration with NGOs and activists, he has received another 150 individuals. As the selfless rescue acts do not pay his bills, he dons the role of a salesperson for a trade insurance company, too.
During the pandemic, he branched out and started imparting training to like-minded volunteers and organisations on how to save homeless people and safely relocate them. “Scores of people took to the streets due to unemployment and other issues, during Covid-19. To rescue a homeless person, we need to obtain a general memo letter from the police, after informing them. Only then can we carry out the operation. A lot of people are not aware of this and it is the main reason why they do not come forward to help others,” says Srinivasulu, who conducts the online training classes free of any fee, so that people can learn the procedures and act accordingly.
Srinivasulu also helps to relocate people from other districts or States to Chennai in case there are no facilities to house the homeless there. For example, Puducherry does not have a shelter for people with locomotor disabilities. So, they are brought here, he explains. “I do not want people to reach the streets. Most have mental health issues, and are abandoned by their guardians/family.”
Talking about a possible solution, the 45-year-old suggests the details of people with mental health issues, and their guardians, must be collected zone-wise and the guardians must sign the register every week. If they fail to do so, they can be questioned on about the concerned person.
Srinivasulu and his wife distribute food to homeless people every day. “We make extra food for at least four people at home and have sponsors to make 30 packets. Every evening, we distribute them. The reason I say people taking to the streets must reduce is that despite providing with food, there will always be someone dying out of hunger every day that we are missing out on,” he adds.