Krishnan is 28 yrs old young man. He runs Akshaya Trust. It is a not for profit organization that does the job of feeding the uncared, mentally ill people that you normally notice on the pavements. In his relentless pursuit, he has been feeding the destitutes for the past seven years. He is doing a job that the Government should have been doing.
I met him at his home. He was warm in his welcome and was pretty much to the point. He lives with his parents and sister. First, I mistook him to be married and asked him how he is able to carry about with his tasks with the same passion that made him to quit his mainstream job?
He replied that he remains single and most probably will end up being single. That was a very personal question. But then, it requires sacrifice and he does not want to bet on mixing family life with his service to the needy. I can understand that. It can be a potential collision course between materialistic interest and his current service! But then that is his personal stance.
He hails from a Brahmin family and quit his lucrative job to feed the uncared. He even does haircuts for the shabby. Most of them are mentally ill and don’t understand the protocol to thank him when he delivers food (If you thought your profession was thankless now thing again). They grab his preparation and have it by the side of a ditch.
Donations to his trust are exempt under Indian Income Tax Act - section 80G. He maintains an archive of receipts from his very first donation to the current date. Bills raised from vegetable vendors etc. He emphasizes on a fair amount of transparency of his Trust’s accounts. He is now cherishing his next plan of housing the destitutes under “Akshaya Home”. It will house 200 aged and mentally ill and homeless people. L.I.C. Golden Jubilee Foundation has sanctioned Rs.25 lakhs donation for one block.
In the end what impressed me is his ability to keep his “purpose of life” alive and running! In fact he is younger to me and I felt dwarfed by his repertoire of activities. Phenomenally motivated individual and more importantly it takes *real* guts to break from a traditional background. He has been chastised by his community for taking up the cremation work of the uncared. But then somebody has to clean up. And he cleans it up!
As of Jan 2009, it costs him INR 12,000 to feed 350 people, 3 times a day. He has paid support staff that assist him in his routine and a Maruti Van to carry the prepared food. More importantly, he has a big heart and an attitude to carry forward with the service.
In the end both of us agree, if our tax money is utilized “for the true welfare of people” why would this meeting be in first place? May be Krishnan would have continued to be a Chef in a star Hotel and I would have focussed on some other issue of interest to me.