One meal for humanity

Coronavirus is hands down one of the worst things that have ever happened to mankind. The global pandemic hit almost every part of the world, affecting millions of human lives all around. As reported by WHO, about 6.6 million people lost their lives to the global pandemic, millions more were severely affected for life with the stringed medical conditions. Amidst all this, there was one more serious problem that went unaddressed: the plight of underprivileged and homeless people in the state of lockdown. In developing countries like India, a significant chunk of the population belong to the daily-wage working class. Moreover, the number of homeless beggars is far more than what can be fathomed.

Lockdown made things even tougher for these people as they struggled to get even the most basic necessities to sustain life, especially food. The cry for hunger was real in India but went unnoticed by most of the people since everyone was dealing with their own problems during the pandemic. Daily-wage labourers stopped getting day-to-day work and were not earning a single pence. Beggars were left alone on the streets with no help as people were in their respective homes due to the lockdown.

While most of us did not even bother about the plight of these people, fortunately, people like Sanjana Chaudhary did. The 22-year-old English graduate was deeply moved when she realised how many people were out there without food for days. “I realised the gravity of the situation when I saw a woman with her kids lying down at the corner of a street. They all looked severely malnourished. I went up to the woman and asked her if she was fine. She said that she and her kids have not had food for days. This shook me down to my core.” This was the moment when Sanjana realised how deeply people are affected by the pandemic. “I knew that the woman and her children were not the only ones suffering. There were many. I had to do something.”

Sanjana Chaudhary, founder of Humane Foundation, P/C: Sayan Bose

Sanjana decided to start a food distribution program and feed as many people as possible. She had to come up with a plan. She first thought of cooking the food herself, but then managing the whole process for so many people was too difficult for her. “Cooking food for even 10 people on a daily basis was tough for me as I was alone.”

She then decided to hire a professional cook but the whole deal was way too expensive for her. She needed a more feasible plan, something that was effective and could actually make a difference. “The number of people starving on the roads was far more than the number of stars one could count on a clear night.”

There is a great saying: ‘if there is a will, there is a way’ and that is exactly what happened to her. She came up with the most brilliant idea possible- seeking food from Gurudwara and distributing them further to the downtrodden. Gurudwaras are Sikh people’s place of worship and they have a tradition of cooking Langar (meal) for thousands of people visiting the holy place everyday, free of cost.

“I went around looking for Gurudwaras where the langar was still being served so I could take some of the food from there and distribute it amongst the needy.” However, because their workers had also contracted covid, the majority of the langar services had been discontinued. After searching for a long time, she finally found a Gurudwara that gave her some hope. Though the langar service was closed, the people of the Sikh community were planning to open a kitchen service to provide daily meals for the families who were quarantined and could not go outside to

get the necessary food supplies. After talking to the people of the Gurdwara, She found that they needed more manforce for packaging and delivering the food. “When food is made in such huge quantities, for approximately 400-500 people, it's inevitable that there will be leftovers. They needed more manforce, I needed the leftover food.”

Sanjana decided to form a team of like minded people and join the Sikh team with their mission. “I struck a deal with the people at the Gurudwara. I promised to provide them with all the help they needed with packaging and distributing the food and in return, they would provide me with the leftover food.” From there, it all started. Sanjana’s team was assigned a zone where they had to deliver the food to around 35 families. Everyday morning they would go to the Gurudwara, pack the food, go out for deliveries, and come back in the afternoon to collect the leftover food to give to the daily wage labourers and homeless people on the streets and in the slum areas. “Not only the excess food was now saved from getting trashed, I was now able to reach out to a lot of homeless people and provide them with warm food.”

This went on for more than two months. “I was out there on the road everyday, serving the covid-hit people and the underprivileged. It felt like God’s plan of making me do my part to serve the humanity selflessly.” Sanjana was doing exactly what she aimed for. Although, it was not all sunny. “I developed a bond with the sick people I used to meet everyday during the food deliveries. While some recovered from the disease, others died in front of me. It was tough.”

Even after all this, she did not lose the strength and continued to do her part. Eventually things got better. The lockdown was called off and the kitchen service was shut down. But it was not the end of the story for Sanjana. She went a step ahead and formalised an NGO- with her team- Humane Foundation. Today, her NGO works rigorously with one aim: to put an end to hunger. Their programmes and initiatives include food distribution drives for the needy on a daily basis. “I started with no plan but a small intention of doing my part for society. Today when I have everything figured, my intentions are bigger than ever. I will not stop.”