“When you help someone, your heart smiles and it tells you that you have done the right thing.” These are the words of K.B. Sivadasan, a headload worker hailing from Tamil Nadu and living in Changaramkulam in the district, who has long become a one-man-army of charity through his philanthropic activities.
When the government imposed the COVID-19 lockdown, Mr. Sivadasan could not lock himself away. Alone, he went out to his neighbourhoods, reaching out to the poor and the sick with the provisions they wanted.
While food kits were being supplied across the State under the banner of the government and non-government organisations, Mr. Sivadasan took it on himself to reach out to the poorest of the poor. “Understanding the real needy is most important. My friends and people with kind hearts help me in this venture,” he said.
In the first phase of the lockdown, Mr. Sivadasan reached out to more than 100 people with food kits containing grocery including rice, rice flour, sugar, rice flakes, tea powder, and bathing and washing soaps. In the second phase, he chose the weakest of the poor and the sick for supply of provisions. But he avoided rice from the kit as the government had given them the rice they wanted through ration shops.
Then he started supplying vegetable kits containing almost all major items. Mr. Sivadasan came in for praise from the police and civic officials when he distributed hundreds of masks to people. Using his goodwill, he gets clothes from people and arranges to get masks stitched. “I must have supplied about 1,500 masks now. More masks are being prepared,” he said in a Tamil-Malayalam mix.
Mr. Sivadasan is a local hero for the people of Changaramkulam. Wearing a purple shirt and a yellow shawl on his shoulder, this Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) worker reaches out to the needy on his scooter.
Charity has become a passion for this man. Any major festival, no matter Onam, Vishu, Christmas, or Eid, is an occasion for Mr. Sivadasan to reach out to the poor. For the past nine years, he has been doing it with zest.
