BENGALURU: Bengalureans did a ‘Baba Da Dhaba’ by coming together to help a street vendor selling saplings on Kanakapura Road after a tweet shared details about him early Monday morning.
Recently, ‘Baba Da Dhaba’ in Delhi got scores of people rushing to help a senior couple running it after someone tweeted a video of the Baba sharing his grief over lack of business.
Bengaluru’s sapling seller Revana Siddappa, 80, struck a chord with people beyond the city. Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda shared the story urging people to go out and help him. “Hey Bangalore, do show some love. He sits in front of Wular Fashion factory, JP Nagar, Sarakki Signal, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore,” Hooda shared a post by another Twitter user, Shubham Jain, whose tweet has garnered over 4,000 likes and 1,500 shares.
Images of senior citizen Siddappa selling saplings even as he took shelter from pounding rain under an umbrella triggered a tweet storm. Twitter users thronged his stall. While some people promised to visit the stall and purchase saplings, others suggested the movement be spread to other local vendors as well.
Actor Samyukta Hornad, along with Changemakers of Kanakapura Road (a group of RWAs and NGOs on Kanakapura Road from Sarakki signal to NICE Road), also reached the spot to show support to Siddappa. By the end of the day, Changemakers of Kanakapura Road had provided Siddappa with a table, chair and a canopy with the help of donors.
“We are buying canopy chairs and some stocks for him to sell. If anyone wants to help, you can reach out to us, we will pool together and help!” the group tweeted
Abdul Aleem, co-founder, Changemakers of Kanakapura Road, told TOI they don’t want it to make a one-day affair but have a sustainable support system. “We raised money from donors to help him with regular material in the long term as well as visibility. He now has a board announcing the sale of medicinal saplings,” Aleem said, adding that vendors around him also approached them for help.
“We plan to help vendors in need with a canopy and other support,” he said.
Aleem explained that in just one hour, 15-20 people approached Siddappa, some making purchases, some paying him an advance for future purchases.
“Siddappa is almost 80 years old and finds it difficult to make ends meet. We plan to help him with some steady employment with comfort within apartment complexes,” he said.
Siddappa lives in Ramakrishna Nagar, 500 metres from where he sells saplings.