COIMBATORE: Every day, without fail, B Murugan wakes up at 3 am. He sets up a kitchen near his house and soon, he is joined by his wife, three helpers and a cook. Together, they cook food till 6 pm and pack it neatly. And they do this not because they run a mess or hostel, but to serve food to the destitute on the streets of Coimbatore.
Murugan (47), who founded the NGO Nizhal Maiyam in 1998, has been serving food to destitute people and abandoned kids for 23 years now, with the help of his volunteers. And what is more, he ensures that the food he serves is healthy and varied. He prepares biryani packed with vegetables and mushrooms, along with a generous sprinkling of mint and curry leaves. His ‘gamagama sambar’ is nutritious and has its share of fans. Each day, he serves these well-rounded meals to nearly 200 destitute people and to 1,000 abandoned children at 18 orphanages every Sunday morning.
When one asks him about the roots of his empathy, he shares that he attempted suicide three times when he failed his class XII exam. “With no hope in sight, I came to Sirumugai in Coimbatore in 1992. I stayed with a beggar on the roadside and we both struggled without food. When I saw so many beggars in a similar state around me, I decided to help them.”
“A senior citizen named Karuppan helped me get a job in a small hotel. Later, I worked as a cleaner in a lorry for a few years. By this time, I had become an auto driver in a company. I started to earn Rs 3,000 as salary. In 1998, taking the first step towards my dream, I started cooking and distributing food to 25 destitute people on Mettupalayam Road on Sundays.”
“When my friends and the company owner came to know about this, they started supporting me by giving me money, vegetables, rice and other grocery items. With the extra help, I started pitching in a portion of my salary for it as well. After starting Nizhal Maiyam, a few volunteers got inspired by our work and joined us,” he said. He said after the volunteers joined in 2011, they have been able to distribute food daily to 200 impoverished people.
Murugan, who distributes areca leaf plates to shops and hotels, distributes the food early in the morning and goes to work by 9 am. His daily routine is hectic but rewarding nonetheless, he says. He also wants to do more. “Another dream of mine is to make Coimbatore a beggar-free city. We need an orphanage to take care of abandoned children and adults,” he said.
One of the volunteers, V Krishnakumar, who runs a workshop at Ganapathy told TNIE, “Nearly 15 years ago, I was inspired by Murugan’s work and decided to join him.” Another volunteer said during the lockdown in 2021, they supplied food to 2.45 lakh people across the district with the help of many supporters.
So what really is the secret culinary ingredient of ‘gamgama sambar’? Murugan says he prepares the sambar fresh every Sunday by adding 15 types of vegetables, five litres of purified cooking oil, five litres of ghee, chickpeas, green peas and other lentils. But can you guess the other secret ingredient of the dish? Love.
Life on the streets
Murugan says his time spent on the streets made him realise the suffering of the homeless. “I came to Sirumugai in Coimbatore in 1992. I stayed with a beggar on the roadside and we struggled without food. When I saw so many beggars in a similar state, I decided to help them,” he says