'I Pray For That Unknown Woman Who Cooked Pothichoru'

'A campaign that goes beyond caste, creed and religion.'
'This is a campaign that aims to end hunger in society.'

A 45 minute drive from Thiruvananthapuram on the Kochi-Kanyakumari highway and you reach Neruvamoodu, a tiny green village.

It is a day of intense activity for DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI-M) workers of this area. Inside the kitchens of many households also.

It is the turn of the DYFI unit to supply pothichoru (rice and curries wrapped in a plantain leaf) to thousands of patients and bystanders at the Trivandrum Medical College.

Sreejith, the area president of the DYFI, tells me that all the 164 units in Thiruvananthapuram have been taking turns in supplying pothichoru ever since the Hrudayapoorvam Pothichoru (loosely translated as Pothichoru, with love or from the heart) project started in 2017.

"We visit each house in our unit two days before the D-day and tell them to prepare pothichoru. The number of pothichoru depends on the capacity of each household. Our volunteers collect the packets from each house in the morning and pack them in cartons in our party office. By noon, our vehicle will be there at Medical College," Sreejith says.

The beginning of Project Hrudayapoorvam Pothichoru

On the first floor of the DYFI office in Thiruvananthapuram A A Rahim, the Rajya Sabha MP and the DYFI's current all India president, remembers the early days of Hrudayapoorvam Pothichoru.

"It was in this office that we first discussed and gave shape to the project. Two small initiatives that happened at two different places prompted us to start something of this nature. One initiative was by a retired person in a place called Valappil where he was rehabilitating homeless people," says Rahim.

"When he was unable to feed all of them, local DYFI workers took turns in collecting food packets. Almost at the same time DYFI workers of Mannanthala started collecting food packets for the patients at the palliative care centre."

Both initiatives came to the notice of the DYFI's state unit and its officials felt it was a good idea to start a project on similar lines at the Trivandrum Medical College.

"We have seen thousands of patients visiting the medical college every day. A majority of them are poor and daily wage labourers. Though the treatment is free, they have to bear other expenses which include food during their stay at the hospital," says Rahim.

"We can imagine how difficult it is if they have to buy food from outside every day for say 7 to 10 days when they don't have any earnings. We thought if we could at least provide food, it would be a big help for those poor people," adds Rahim.

But the DYFI team was anxious on two counts. "One, whether we would get enough packets, that too on a regular basis. Two, whether there would be a demand for food packets daily. Not even in our wildest dreams did we visualise thousands of people standing in queue to collect the food packets."

The plan they had was to designate one day to one village level DYFI committee to collect lunch packets -- there are 164 such village units in Thiruvananthapuram.

So, on the 1st of January 2017, the DFYI's Mannanthala village committee launched the project in a small way.

Though the plan was to collect 300 packets of pothichoru, there was an overwhelming response from the residents, and they got 500 packets.

"When our target was 300, and we got 500 packets, we knew there were enough kind-hearted families who are willing to contribute. But what shocked us was the number of people who had gathered at the medical college. There were thousands of people queued up and we didn't have enough pothichoru for everyone the first day," Rahim remembers.

"So, from the very next day, we increased the number to 1,000 but we found that was also not enough. 1,000 became 2,000 and then 3,000. On an average we give around 3,000 to 4,000 pothichoru every day."

From the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, they expanded to other medical colleges in Kerala.

They make pothichoru for strangers

Vidya got up very early in the morning, earlier than usual.

Yes, she has to go to the hospital where she works as a nurse, she has to get her elder daughter ready for school.

In the morning madness, she has to take care of the needs of her 2-year-old daughter too.

But today is a special day. It is her turn to pack a few packets of pothichoru for needy people.

She doesn't know who those people are; she only knows the pothichoru she cooks will help a few hungry people.

Her packed lunch has rice, sambar, a vegetable, egg, fish and pickles in it. She had made 10 packets earlier but with a small child to look after, she could make only 3 pothichoru that day.

"Mornings are crazy at my place. Luckily, my duty today is in the afternoon. Even if I have morning duty, I don't miss an opportunity like this. I have been making pothichoru ever since the project started and I have not missed a single time when my turn came," says Vidya.

"Since I work as a nurse, I have seen many bystanders and patients struggling to get a meal in the afternoon. I know that so many people depend on this pothichoru. The treatment may be free, but it is a big burden for many poor families to even buy one meal a day.

"Sometimes, they have to be in the hospital for many days. So, a free packet of lunch is God sent for the poor. A gift from God. So, it gives me immense happiness and satisfaction that I am also part of this extraordinary effort, and I am able to give food to a hungry and needy person, a stranger," Vidya says with a smile.

Najima's husband is a daily wage labourer, but he insists that even if there is no food at home, they should not miss giving pothichoru for the unknown patients at the medical college when their turn comes.

Today Najima has made 10 pothichoru packets with rice, sambar, avial and pickles.

Najima's mother-in-law Subaida is "so happy that we are able to help a poor person who is hungry. When I was hospitalised also, I got pothichoru prepared by some unknown person. I know how much a lunch packet like this helps when you are in the hospital."

"It is a very difficult time for us, but we thought even if we can give only rice and chammanthi (a chutney native to Kerala), we should give. My husband told me not to say 'no' when our turn comes. I am happy that I am able to make sambar and avial also with rice," Najima says with pride.

Sherina has been working as a volunteer for this project even when she was in college.

"I collect pothichoru from all the houses in this area and pack them in a carton. I volunteer to distribute the packets at the medical college. My family have also pothichoru and we know how much this helps. My grandmother was at the Regional Cancer Centre for cancer treatment and the pothichoru prepared by an unknown family helped us immensely. We are not doing anything special; just preparing something extra for the needy."

Unlike the other households, the spread Suchitra, a temporary employee at the Examination Board and a DYFI worker has cooked, is quite sumptuous: Rice, sambar, vegetables, fish, and chammanthi.

"It gives me so much happiness that I am able to cook with my own hands for some stranger who is in the hospital, and hungry. I am proud of the fact that I am part of such a remarkable effort. We have been making pothichoru from the time the project started."

"We used to make up to 30 packets. Because we are passing through some financial difficulties now, we have made only 8 packets today. We want those who get our packets to feel satisfied after they have their lunch."

Endless queue to receive pothichoru

12:30 in the afternoon, and I am at the Trivandrum Medical College.

There is a long queue of thousands of men, women and children, of all age groups.

By the time the van with several cartons of food arrives, it is 1 pm.

Sreejith and Sherina have come from Neruvamoodu to oversee the distribution.

"We have more than 3,500 packets today," says Sreejith.

While the auto drivers who stop work to be volunteers load the food packets on the table, Sherina started distributing the pothichoru, one packet per person.

Many pleading for one more pothichoru but they are politely asked to stand in the queue again for the "priority is to give at least one packet to one person..."

The first in the queue is Yasoda, an elderly ailing woman who has been coming to get pothichoru almost every day.

"When you are alone, sick and with no money, none of your relatives are interested in keeping in touch. I have no house and no income. I am sick, but I don't have anyone to take care of me. I am living today only because of the pothichoru I get here... I thank and pray for that unknown woman who took pains to cook pothichoru for sick people like me..."

Babu is second in line with his two small boys. They have come all the way from Varkala for his wife's third delivery.

The child was born premature and is in the incubator. "My wife is ill. We don't have anybody else. So, I have to be here with my boys to look after her. I have no work and my children can't go to school. I have no money to buy food from outside. Four of us sustain on the two packets we get here. I have no words to say how thankful we are," he says.

This the reason why Rahim calls Hrudayapoorvam Pothichoru an "apolitical movement".

"Our aim is to nurture a generation of young people who can think beyond themselves, think of other people and society as a whole. This is a campaign that goes beyond caste, creed and religion. This is a campaign that aims to end hunger in society."

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com