25-year-old in Telangana on a journey to serve the needy

HYDERABAD:  What is the true purpose of my existence? — there is no denying that this doubt has hit most of us, at some point in life. Though chances are that a good number of us will never find an answer to this question, there are quite a few people who go beyond their comfort zone, in search of it. C Goutham, the founder of ‘Serve Needy Organisation’, is a person who discovered that the real purpose of his life is to serve the requirements of the needy. Goutham’s journey that started from Hyderabad in 2013, has now crossed the State borders, influencing several others to join him in this venture.

“After serving those who work in various fields such as sports, Army, media and corporate firms, I, at the age of 25, realised that what I actually wanted to do was to help those living on the streets. In the beginning, I had suspicions about NGOs and thought that they were working to convert people. However, I started my organisation and launched a project named ‘Feed the Hungry’ to provide food to at least 10 to 20 persons on a daily basis,” Goutham recalled while speaking to Express.

He then launched the ‘Annnadatha’ project, which soon became a huge success, and has since been helping feed at least 1,000 to 2,000 persons in various cities located in States such as Telangana, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, on a daily basis.“There are two reasons why we launched this initiative. One, it helps poor people living on the streets; and two, it also gives us details of orphans living in various cities, which helps us rescue and shift them to proper shelter homes,” says Goutham.

Apart from feeding the needy, Goutham has also been conducting the last rites of orphans and distributing food and new clothes among persons with disabilities. He also feeds street dogs and monkeys in and around Hyderabad by sourcing funds from people through social media campaigns. His organisation is also running an old-age home in Thumkunta at Shameerpet, Medchal-Malkajgiri district, which provides shelter to about 15 senior citizens, and an orphanage in Karkhana, Secunderabad, where 25 orphan children live. “I just want to show humanity in all possible ways and spread the cause in the society,” he says, adding that his next endeavour would be to establish schools in tribal areas.