MADURAI: Charity and compassion run in his blood. Though he lost all his fortunes and ended up on the street begging, the 71-year-old is still happy to do his bit for the society, whether it is donating money to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic or the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
Pride and satisfaction lit up M Pol Pandian’s wrinkled face when he says he has been contributing the money he got from begging to many government schools in Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Pudukottai, and Tenkasi districts to buy essentials.
Though the septuagenarian, who begs at South Gate in Madurai, had to suffer humiliation and attacks by unscrupulous youth, he has not let the bad experiences douse the fire in him. He has ignored the pleas of his children who offered accommodation in their houses if he stops donating money and spend it on them instead.
One of the two surviving sons of a jamin in Thoothukudi district, Pol Pandian has contributed Rs 1 lakh towards the fund to mitigate the Sri Lankan crisis, Rs 30,000 to the family of martyr SSI Boominathan of Pudukkottai district, and Rs 40,000 to the family of a fire accident victim in Virudhunagar district.
Pandian’s objective is simple: Earn and give it back to the society. He never felt sad over his plight. Since serving the society is his prime motto, he had taken up many a role in his life before deciding to beg for a living. He had pressed clothes in exchange of money, worked as a watchman and was a social worker.
It was in the 80s that Pandian moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) after his parents lost all their properties by helping the needy. He married Saraswathi and became father to three children. Since Saraswathi was not happy with his social service of giving money to the distressed lot, he had to stop it until her death in the 90s. It’s only after her death that Pandian started begging and donating money for social causes. A diabetic patient, he walks for 45 minutes every day as he believes it gives him strength to carry out his door-to-door begging.
Though people advise him nowadays to stop visiting places for begging and to live with the money he earned so far, Pandian feels that the so-called “lavish life” is not his cup of tea. He fondly recalls his parents’ greatness that instilled in him the values of doing social service.
Pandian says he is trying to save as much as he could so that he could give it to the less fortunate. “For myself, I only buy tea with the money I get through begging as food is being provided by good-hearted people in the society. If no one turns up, I beg for food. The remaining money I keep with me and hand it over to school managements or collectors,” he says with a smile, adding he is totally satisfied with the two sets of lungi, chappals, hand-kerchiefs and towels that he has.
He is so deeply inspired by MDMK leader Vaiko’s vision that he contributed Rs 50,000 towards the fund to mitigate Lankan crisis, much before Chief Minister MK Stalin urged public to make donations. After Stalin’s announcement, how can a philanthropist like Pandian sit idle? He again handed over Rs 50,000 to Madurai District Collector towards Sri Lanka fund. He also doesn’t forget to celebrate the birth anniversary of former CM Kamarajar every year in some schools.