At the service of humanity

At the service of humanity
8 Sep 2008, 0417 hrs IST, Sanjeev Kumar Verma,TNN


PATNA: It is seven in the evening and a house in city's Sri Krishna Nagar locality is humming with activities. A casual glance may give you an impression that those present there are busy making arrangements for somefamily function.

A closer look, however, will leave you surprised. For, the work going on there is not personal rather these people are busy making food packets forthe people who lost almost every thing in the Kosi flood this year. A group of some 20 women and a few schoolchildren, in fact, are working here for the last four days. The packaging work starts around 8 in the morning and is carried out well past nine in the evening. Till Sunday, over 2,000 food packets and over 500 packets of other essentials like clothes and items of daily use had been prepared.

A beginning was made by a group of residents who thought of collecting relief materials. "We were initially hesitant knowing nothing about the type of response we would get. The outcome, however, has left us completely surprised as people have contributed more than our expectations," said Javed who is part of the group that came up with the idea.

He said first they were expecting relief materials which could be sent in a tempo, but the way people responded the materials would now need at least two trucks for being sent to the flood-hit areas. "So far around 10 tonnes of edibles and five tonnes of other daily use items, including clothes, have been collected and contributions are still pouring in," he said and added that help was coming from almost all the localities of the city.

Overwhelmed with the response, women of the locality volunteered to make packets of food items and other materials and they gather here since 8 in the morning and stay for well over 12 hours. Food and tea for these women come from neighbourhood. Even some schoolchildren have joined them in this noble work and the house wears the look of a workshop where everyone is busy with some work.

"Helping the marooned ones is something every Bihari should think of. I have the satisfaction of having contributed something for those who lost everything," said Jaishree, a resident of Sri Krishna Nagar.

Aditi, a Class XII student of Mount Carmel School, echoed Jaishree when she said, "Helping people who have lost everything gives a satisfaction of a different kind," she said.

Copyright © 2008 Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service