Headload worker K.B. Sivadasan of Changaramkulam has done it for the 10th year in a row. Without a break, in spite of COVID-19 lockdown taking a heavy toll on his daily work, this Tamil native distributed Onam food kits and clothes to the poor.
Titled ‘Ammakkoru Onakkodi’, Mr. Sivadasan has given new clothes to dozens of poor old women in and around Changaramkulam during the Onam.
“Seeing them, I think about my mother. There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing your mother smile,” he said.
Mr. Sivadasan is not a rich man, if money constitutes richness. But the people of Changaramkulam call him rich as he religiously shares a portion of his earnings through daily labour for charity. “Charity should not be the prerogative of the rich,” he said.
COVID-19 hit Mr. Sivadasan hard this year and his earnings dipped considerably. Yet, his spirit of charity never suffered any battering.
He managed groceries and new kasav clothes with the help of some philanthropists and distributed them to dozens of poor people.
He was motivated by the pain and suffering of poverty he underwent during his childhood. “I am very happy I could increase the number of food kits every year. I had begun it 10 years ago by giving clothes to two mothers,” he said. “On the face of every poor mother, I could see my mother’s.”
He has no distinction of religion or caste. “Every mother who needs care is mine,” Mr. Sivadasan said. “When helping others, it gives me a great feeling that I can’t express.”