The man and his bike is a regular sight in front of the Secretariat. What he seeks are hungry mouths which he feeds unfailingly day in and day out. This is no ordinary sight you see every day in this age when we are too busy even to notice the people immediately around us. We approached this benevolent ‘knight’ on his white ‘charger’ to know what made him such a ‘saviour’. His name is Suralayam Raveendran and he is from Nedumangadu, where he is the manager of two CBSE Schools named Suralayam and Navabharath English Medium School which has classes upto the 6th standard. Raveendran starts his feeding rounds every morning at 8.30, with breakfast. Lunch follows till 2.30 pm. In Raveendran’s words, “I bring breakfast from a hotel in Vazhayila. At noon, I purchase food from the lady who sells meals by the side of the Secretariat. I give the food to anyone who stretches out their hand to me.” He has been feeding the hungry on the streets for the past 30 years and this sense of charity is something that runs in his family.
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Mirakle Couriers was founded in January 2009. Started by Dhruv Lakra who combined his education and experience in both the business and social sectors to come up with a for-profit social enterprise. The idea to help the deaf was triggered by one particular incident he experienced while traveling in Mumbai. Dhruv spent time exploring the deaf culture and learning Indian Sign Language. He focused on a courier business because it requires a lot of visual skills but no verbal communication. The deaf are extremely good at maps reading, remembering roads and buildings because they are so visually inclined.
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When you stop by the traffic signal or at the public dustbin, you see them wandering aimlessly begging for food, money, anything. The homeless population in India is perhaps one of the highest in the world. One man couldn’t watch their plight and started the New Ark Mission of India also known as Home of Hope. Having suffered the extreme hardship of living on the streets at an early age of 15, Raja couldn’t ignore the homeless’ ordeals. At 41, he has rescued over 3000 people and provided them with shelter, food and a life to look forward to. Perhaps the reason why they refer to him as Auto Raja.
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