VELLORE: Carrying a bagful of essential materials to provide first aid, blankets, sarees, dhotis, towels and bedspreads, this young man is on a mission to provide solace to the differently abled people affected by leprosy on the streets. Meet Manimaran (31), who was seen attending to leprosy affected persons here on Thursday.
Born in a farmer family in a non-descript village of Thalaiyampallam near Tiruvannamalai, the school dropout received motivation for social service from his father at an early age. “I was inspired by him. He taught me to learn the art of tolerance,” Manimaran recalled. His father sent him to Kolkata to visit the ashram of Mother Teresa, where he learnt about compassion, human values and attitude to serve. He was later sent to Tirupur, where his elder brother was employed in the textile industry. This was the time he came across differently abled leprosy patients and their struggles to survive.
He began to reach out to them and started cleaning them up, offering them both food and comfort. He also took them to hospitals for first aid. When he came to Karigiri hospital near Vellore, he learnt to work with persons cured of leprosy.
Today, he is on his own, extending care and support to the leprosy afflicted, thus emerging as their ‘god son’. He purchases cotton inner garments from Tirupur and sells them in North India. In turn, he brings kurta and other garments made in the North and sells them in South India.
“I make some money, part of which I give to my family. The rest is spent on travel to attend to people with leprosy,” he said. In the past 10 years, he has rescued around 500 from streets in various cities and admitted them in hospitals for care.
“In Vellore, I was able to identify around 95 people with leprosy in the last two days... Eight of them had ulcers, on which I have applied medicines,” said Manimaran. He spends time talking to them to ensure them of all help. He also makes it a point to give them his mobile number.
“Abandoned people give us opportunity to help,” he noted. His noble work for the past 10 years has earned him many accolades, including the Chief Minister’s State Youth Award in 2015 and the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities the same year.
Manimaran has devoted his life to social service and wants to remain single to continue with his efforts. He is also trying to dispel fears about leprosy, while demonstrating how those afflicting with it could be rehabilitated. has plans to establish his own ashram, where he wants to rehabilitate persons with leprosy. To realise his dream, he is looking for help and support from corporates and philanthropists.