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It was the lockdown period. Pranab Saikia was on his way to Vrindavan from Delhi, when he saw the most horrific sight: An old lady eating leftovers from a dumpster. Heartbroken, he rushed to help her, handing out a hundred rupee note and telling her to get some food. He expected the elderly lady to be on her way after getting the money, but instead she smiled and asked him a very important question: “You have given me a 100 rupee note today. And I will buy something for myself today. But what about tomorrow? Who will feed me tomorrow? I’ll have to eat out of this trash can only.”
This stirred deep emotions in Pranab, a journalist who had been involved in serving society for a long time. When he heard of destitute widowed mothers taking shelter on the streets of the Radha Kund area in Vrindavan, he felt compelled to make a difference in their lives. Under Hiranmoyee India Foundation, the NGO he helmed in 2018 with the noble mission to serve the poorer sections of the community, he started focusing on improving the living of these hapless widows. He wanted to provide them with the most basic of necessities - a hot meal.
“As widows, these women face social neglect, and are driven away from mainstream society. Left with no other means to survive, they resort to a life of begging and living in unhygienic conditions. This is happening right in front of our eyes. How can we ignore it?”- Pranab Saikia
The Delhi-based organization has been serving free meals to over 250 widowed mothers every alternate day, through the Annapurna Kitchen For Abandoned Widows. Besides food items, they have also been supplying them clothes, blankets, utensils and other necessities.
“There are more than 5,000 widows living in Vrindavan. Most of them live in unhygienic conditions in the backyard of temples, near goshalas or in rented dingy rooms of local residents. Almost 99 percent of these widows are evicted from their homes and their property is seized by relatives and in-laws. To survive, they have taken up the begging profession. We want to make sure at least they don’t go to sleep on a hungry stomach.”- Pranab.
The Annapurna Kitchen has been running smoothly for over three years now, but is facing challenges related to funds. Grocery items, cylinders and cooks are the major components required for running the kitchen, for which the organisation incurs a monthly expenditure of INR 80,000. The food distribution takes place every alternate day and the weekday menu comprises of- rice, dal, vegetable, chapati and the weekend menu comprises rice, dal, chapati, papad, paneer, a sweet.
“There are cooks appointed by the Foundation, but the widow mothers themselves prepare food for everyone. They feel like they are feeding themselves and their family by doing so. I want to help more elderly mothers who have no one, but I am not able to do it all on my own. I have been depending on my friends’ circles to keep it up and running till now, but that is not meeting the rising needs. I would be grateful if you could join our initiative in providing these poor widowed mothers nutrition and well-being.” - Pranab.
With your support, the Annapurna Kitchen can continue its noble initiative to feed the helpless elderly widowed mothers of Vrindavan. Click here to contribute.
