'Maid' of Honour!

Even before writing this blog, I thought of a number of names to head this blog. Heads like, Bai the way, Maid of love, Bai all means, Bai default, Maid to measure et el. But finally I settled for ‘ Maid of Honour.’ You guessed it right. This blog is dedicated to that one person without whom life ( at least in India) would go for a toss. No matter how rude, how ruthless, how rueful or even how revolting she may be at times, she is still the one, most of us count on, most of the times.

Right from my childhood, I have had various maids lending a helping hand, and trust me, I liked them all.  Starting from the two maids,( Laxmi and Bala), who treated me as if i were a princess,( I also remember attending their  wedding), to the one with whom, my brother and I went to watch a Telgu movie, ( how she convinced my mother, is yet another story. J ), to the christian maid who would bring home a Christmas cake, the very next day after the big eve and a few more, all of them are very very close to my heart. Whenever I think of them a smile crosses my face, and I feel deeply grateful that they have been a part of my life.




Well! I can actually go on and on, discussing almost every maid that has served me, but this blog is dedicated to my present maid, who is a fighter by all means. she fights not only for her own rights but also for the rights of others. Here goes the story.

For the last one year Mamta, my maid, sets her feet on my doorstep at sharp 6.30 am. ;) ( even on Sundays. L ). She can actually put the ’Time ’ to shame. One fine day this walking clock, ( as I call her) was almost a few hrs late than usual. So much that I dreaded she might not come. After panicking for some time I gathered courage ( I need lots, for the person who cannot even clean the spam mails, cleaning the house is a big big thing. J ) and took my weapons to hit the floor ( literally). It is then that I heard the door bell ring. And BANG there she was right in front of me. ( forget the clinched million dollar smile. What I had was n times more than that. ;) ). Obviously I enquired why she was late, and she narrated a heart wrenching yarn, putting me to tears.

That morning on her way to work, Mamta heard a meek cry. She followed the voice, and to her shock the voice came from the near by dustbin. She peeped into the bin, and what she saw was a ghastly act of humanity. There in the bin lay a baby, who was barely few hours old . the little gal was wrapped in a dirty cloth which was kept in a huge plastic bag. ( As she said these words tears rolled down her eyes. my eyes were wet too.) Without even giving a second thought Mamta took the baby to the nearby police station. She had to go through a lot of queries at the police station but this did not stop her from trying her best to help the child. After she was convinced that the baby was now in safe hands, she followed the road to her work.

The baby is now safe in an orphanage.
 
There are a few more humble acts that this bold lady has performed, about which I will update you some other time. But for now lets salute this amazing woman for the kindness and humanity that she has displayed.

A bird in Hand!

 

This year, 2012, on Valentines day, I wished to do a story, that explored the myriad shades of love. I wanted to share with the world that, unlike the boy met gal and love blossomed clinch, love has many more shades. And it is during this story that I happened to come across this, young man, who stood as an epitome of love.

 

 

 

The day Rohit Gangwal, a jeweler by profession, landed in Jaipur eight years ago, he found himself holding an injured bird, who seemed to be the prey of 'the glass coated manja' during the Sankrathi, the kite festival. Despite his immense efforts, Rohit was unable to save the bird. He was so broken by the fact that the bird died in his hands due to the negligence of many irresponsible citizens, and also due to the dearth of first aid. It is then that Rohit took it up upon himself to do his best to save bird life. He promised himself that never again in his sight will he let a bird die due to lack of first aid. This gave birth to ‘ Raksha’ an organization that helps to save birds.

 

Every year Rohit, along with his team, works to save the birds and also organizes free bird treatment camps to lend first aid and intense carI to the injured birds. “ It is said that the hands that help are holier than the lips that pray‘. It is sad to see that there are innumerable birds that are severely injured during the kite festival and even otherwise. Rohit emotes, "It is our duty as human beings to take a step to save the birds. You can either call it my love for my feathered friends or my duty of being a human, that motivates me to work hard and also encourage others through various campaigns to save these silent creatures. ” Rohit also holds campaigns to free caged birds. Yes! This is love. The love of giving. Hats of to you Rohit. And YOU, if you happen to be yet another kite lover, make sure to play safe, and avoid hazadorous Manjas in order to save bird life. :)

　

Nurturing Hope! :)

A month before his retirement, J. Antonymuthu, Assistant Executive Engineer with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, met with an accident in Chennai. His right leg was broken and he required hospitalisation. It was during the time spent in hospital back in 1994 that he developed the urge to do “something good for the society.”

“I remember, I was asleep under a heavy dose of medication. When I woke up, father-in-law, who is a doctor based in Madurai, and my wife Lalitha, were beside me. I just told them I wanted to start an orphanage for poor children after I was discharged.”

Initially, the family tried to convince him to take voluntary retirement and shift to Madurai, but Antonymuthu's inner voice guided him elsewhere. With the retirement benefits which he received, he set up ‘Children Welfare Home' in 1995. Finding orphaned children with no or poor financial backing was not difficult in the metro and he gave shape to his dream with the first batch of 16 boys.

Initial struggle

Recalls Antonymuthu: “Initially it was quite a struggle. We had a rented accommodation. These children were of different ages with hardly any education. Disciplining them was a major issue.”

Having set himself with a goal, he was not the ones to give up easily. Burning holes in his pocket, he ran the orphanage for 12 years providing everything for the boys whom he took under his fold each year through advertisements. From food, clothes, medicines, education, he paid for everything as even donations were not easy to come by. “They were, and still are, far and few,” he says.

Four years ago, Antonymuthu shifted to his wife's native town, Madurai. He has no regret mentioning how financially tough it is to fund a large family as his. On an average, this childless couple raised 16 to 20 boys each year. “In big cities, everything is more expensive. We felt life in a small town would be comparatively easy and we could also take more children from rural poor background and provide them with an opportunity to do well in life.”

With this renewed mission, Antonymuthu brought his orphanage to the Temple Town. While from his last batch of children in Chennai, a majority left after finishing Class XII, he brought the remaining few and found a dozen more to restart the orphanage. He built his own home which can accommodate 40 boys. At present, he has 26 boys, aged seven to 14 years, with him. All of them study in CSI High School, Pasumalai.

Talking about them, he says, “This age group is usually the most disobedient lot. They often run away and are difficult to control. Whoever is able to study well, we want to help them to study further. Though I provide free education, it is my regret that not a single child from my orphanage in these years has gone beyond Class XII. These kids are more interested in movies than studies.”

Living on hope

He follows up, fondly: “In the present group, I feel 90 per cent of them are good students and hope that some of them will surely fly high.”

What is a matter of consolation for him is that is does not cost too much to run the home in Madurai. What he complains of is the lack of sufficient hands to help. Antonymuthu also realises there are not many ways of raising funds either. But this down-to-earth Good Samaritan has stopped worrying. “I have realised blessings rain from the sky and God provides timely help,” he says, even though the advertisement he has placed in the papers for a warden has not evoked any response.

Today the orphanage is being run by Antonymuthu, his wife, a cook and a driver. He finds it difficult to manage without a warden because the bunch of pre-teen boys gets really unruly at times. “I am growing old and can't run around much,” he says. “But”, he adds, “I wanted to serve the starving and the poor. It is my dream to introduce some refinement and class in them by providing them the right kind of environment and opportunity.”

Kind-hearted people like Antonymuthu have demonstrated that each of us can contribute to the society – for the poor and the underprivileged. This Independence Day, he is our city's unsung hero.

This is a story about J. Antonymuthu, a former TNEB engineer who has gone beyond the call of duty in supporting poor orphans. I read this article in 'The Hindu', and was inspired to share it here. A grand salute to him!