Latha Sankarnarayan

I have been active in the development sector for the past 15years. But I have never witnessed such a situation as we see now. From 25thMarch, the day nationwide lockdown was announced, I started getting calls about people stranded without money or food. For the first few days, the calls were about small groups of 15-20 people. Within a few days, the group's sizes started increasing - First to 100-200 and then even beyond that. One day I got a call about 100 families in Dindoshi, Goregaon, who had not eaten for days. That's when I realized that I had to find an organization that could address this increasing demand in a structured and sustainable manner. Khaanachahiye was that organization.

At Khaanachahiye, I took up the distribution from Link Road to Dahisar. I personally distributed up to 2,300 meals a day. Although there is an immense inherent satisfaction in the work at Khaanchahiye, on some days, people's direness gets the better of me. I get desperate calls even late in the night about those who have been starving for days. And sometimes, we are unable to serve them on that night because it is too late. Those nights, my hunger vanishes. I don't feel like eating anything. And it is not just the hunger that pierces your heart. The shame on some people's faces is unbearable. Many hardworking people tell us that they have never been in such a situation, where they had to ask someone for food.

But the silver lining in all this is the spirit of those we serve. For instance, many homeless people live on the road in the stretch from Malad to Dahisar. Most of them are rag-pickers. They are not just short of food but are also always under the threat of being evicted by the police. When the food truck is passing by, we assume they'll run to the truck and crowd around it. But they never do that. No matter how long they've gone hungry, they come to the trucks only when we call them. Also, they don't hoard for later. They say there are more people ahead who don't have food and request us to serve them the food.

It's the same in the slums that we serve. In such areas, itis difficult to find out who is the neediest. Because some of the slums are huge and it is impossible to check the status in each house. When we started distributing, some people came forward voluntarily and said that they have ration left for a few days. And that there are people in the interiors of the slum who are poorer than them. "वो हमसे गरिब हैं"they say. Can you imagine that? People with only two or three days of ration left, refusing the food we were offering. Instead, asking us to serve others whom they know are in a worse situation.

But honestly, I think we as a society are taking this benevolence for granted. And that is not good. The way we have chosen to look the other way when there is a migrant exodus happening in our country is a testimonial to that.

Long back, I had written a few words about the perils of taking the poor for granted. Sadly, I think those words have become all the more relevant now.

As the tears run dry,

no longer do they cry.

The land becomes barren,

the leaves shrivel,

as the rivers run dry.

As the pleading voices become silent,

the soul becomes numb,

the heart hardens.

Suffering beyond any suffering,

the poor no longer tread in fear,

for they have nothing to lose,

nothing to hold on,

except their anger