ERNAKULAM: Compassion and empathy are values that make us human. As life paces ahead in overdrive mode, such values often take the backseat. However, there are some good Samaritans who keep reminding us about being human.
Second-year BCom-LLB (five-year course) student of Ernakulam Law College Achutha Shenoy D is one of them. The story begins over a cup of hot tea.
Achutha, who is a budding artist, often engaged in lighthearted banter with an elderly tea-seller Subbaiah, a regular fixture in front of the law college campus. Over time, and numerous rounds of cuppa, they became friends.
“Subbaiah anna has been selling tea here for the past 40 years,” says Achutha. “During one conversation, he opened up about how his wife was undergoing treatment for cancer. Students had earlier raised a fund to aid her surgery. She needed further treatment, and the family was in dire straits.
Achutha held a fundraiser exhibition of his paintings right in front of the college. “I didn’t want to waste money on a venue, so displayed my works on the college compound wall,” he says. “The price range started from Rs 2,000. I could sell only a few, and collected Rs 23,000. But I am happy to have been able to be of some help to anna.” A resident of Mattancherry in Kochi, Achutha says his inspiration is his father Dinesh R Shenoy, who is a well-known artist. “My father has been involved in social service,” adds Achutha.
“During the floods, my father sold his paintings and deposited the proceeds in the disaster relief fund. I grew up seeing such humane gestures.” Achutha says he would continue to use the “God-given gift of art to help people in need”