VELLORE: As a 10-year-old boy, A Loganathan could not figure out why some children his age roamed in tattered clothes. From Nanjundapuram in Coimbatore, he was on his way to visit his father, who was admitted to the railway hospital in Podanur. There he came across a house where he saw many more kids in torn clothes. He could not fathom it when he was told it was an orphanage.
After his father passed away in 1977, it became difficult for Loganathan to continue his education. He dropped out of school in Class 5. He began selling coconut water near the collectorate, around 7 km from his home, to help out his working mother.
Still, the image of the kids in torn clothes haunted him. He decided to go door to door, collecting clothes for them. He washed and mended them if they were torn, before handing them to the children at the orphanage. At 18, he began working as a welder, earning Rs 13.50 per day. He donated one of the new uniforms that the company gave him to an orphanage. He also tried to collect food for the needy, but people mocked him, and called him a beggar.
On a meagre income, he began working part-time cleaning toilets to help needy children, earning Rs 400 per day initially. He saved the amount earned in his bank account and provided it for the education of at least 10 children, who, he recalls, topped their class. “The then chief educational officer assisted me in ensuring that this service reaches the children properly,” he says.
“When I started cleaning toilets, my colleagues stopped conversing with me and sharing lunch with me. For around 25 years, I worked at the company in solitude. But I never felt bad. I used to earn Rs 1,000 per day cleaning toilets against Rs 850 I earned from welding,” Loganathan adds. He gained recognition when he donated Rs 3,000 from his savings to the collectorate for the renovation of Annai Sathyammal Government Orphanage School in 2003.
59 years old now, Loganathan is a happy soul. He has supported the education of over 1,500 children since 1998. His untiring efforts have also earned him 49 awards. On October 15, he received a cash prize of Rs 50,000 at the Real Hero Programme, organised by Rotary Club of Kerala. He donated the entire amount to support the education of underprivileged students.
“A street vendor in the area started offering free food to the needy after hearing about me. That’s the kind of transformation I wish to see,” Loganathan, who has settled in Sulur, Coimbatore, says.“My wife and both of my children have been very supportive of my work. I am confident my children will carry on this work after me,” he adds.