People

New Delhi’s Kamaljeet Singh Panesar
And His Band Of Good Samaritans

TAMANNA NASEER

We pass by them every day, often avoiding their pleas for food and money. We quickly look away lest we be brushed by their misery, and keep our illusion of a 'perfect world' intact.

And thus would live the beggars and the destitute, unwanted and unheeded, if not for some.

Charity is not dead.

There are still a few who offer more than a glance to the homeless and needy - they reach out to them with warmth and kindness in India’s Capital.

A kind soul, Kamaljeet Singh Panesar has been “serving one good meal” a day and nurturing the poor on the streets of New Delhi since 1989.

Every day, Kamaljeet Singh, a businessman, and a few volunteers, serve two rotis, a bowl of daal and a cup of tea to the several thousand starving homeless souls.

Thousands of them carefully gulp down the first and probably only healthy meal of the day without making any noise, without fighting or asking for more. Then, they quench their thirst with a glass of fresh water from a tanker parked on the road.

Within an hour the place wears a deserted look, again. The poor have gone, leaving in their wake not a morsel of food, nor a single used cup.

"It all started around 1989. My father, Trilochan Singh Panesar was very religious. But he strongly felt that it was wrong to only remain engaged in prayer and worship. Serving the downtrodden, helping fellow humans who needed us was more important," says Kamaljeet.

"My father used to say, 'No one can fall sick if he gets one good meal a day,' so our basic idea is to give one free, healthy meal to everyone. No one should remain hungry," he added.

When asked what his organisation was called, and where it had its office, Kamaljeet interrupted to say, "No, no. There is no organisation. We are only a group of people. My father started it and we are continuing the work. The food is prepared at Tilak Nagar and then we ferry it to different parts of the city."

He and his volunteers grow the foodgrain they feed to the destitute.

"We have rented 70 acres of land in the Delhi-National Capital Region. There we grow wheat, rice, mustard and bajra. In our farms, we also have a herd of cattle. The ingredients that we use to prepare the meals are mostly from our fields," the bearded man who's fondly called 'Vir ji' as his father was, added.

The noble act that Trilochan Singh started in front of Sis Ganj Gurdwara in Chandi Chowk is now spread across seven points in Delhi.

Every morning, hundreds of volunteers feed thousands of starving people who live on the streets of the city - 700-800 in Chandni Chowk, over 1,000 at Nigambodh Ghat,around 200 at the roundabout near Rajdoot hotel, 250-300 near the Sai Baba temple at Lodhi Road, 700 in Tilak Nagar, hundreds in the compartments of Sachkhand Express, which takes devotees to the holy Hazur Sahib, and a few hundred at Veerji Da Ashram (old age home) in Dashrathpuri, near Dabri more.

It may sound strange, but these Samaritans do not maintain accounts. Despite that the work flows seamlessly, thanks to seven groups of volunteers who prepare food on seven different days of the week and many others who nurse and feed those who call the streets their home.

And none of these volunteers is jobless.

"We are all professionals; no one is nikkama (useless) here. So,after completing our work here, we go back to our respective workplaces," explains Vinod Goel, another such samaritan.

These volunteers really don't seem to know how the finances are managed, and they do not take money from anyone. But when passers-by offer them pulses, flour and other food material, they accept it.

However, their services are not limited to the living. "We cremate dead bodies. In 2005, all the bodies that were unclaimed in the Sarojini Nagar blasts were cremated by us," Kamaljeet said.

Besides that, they look after the severely sick on the streets. They have doctors on hand - two at Chandni Chowk, one at Nigambodh Ghat, and eight at the old age home in Tilak Nagar.

Basic medical equipment like X-Ray machines are kept at the old-age home.

In case resident doctors fail to diagnose or treat patients, they are taken to public hospitals for better care. Sometimes, the destitute, after being discharged from various hospitals are provided shelter in the old age home.

Ravinder Singh, a pharmacist who is involved in the social work, doesn't' even remember when he started participating in it. But he remembers how it started.

“I used to see Veer ji (Trilochan Singh) cleaning wounds of the homeless daily. One day, he asked me if I was a pharmacist and if I would like to assist him. Thus, it started."

"I don't recall the year, probably 15 years ago, and since that day, I have been doing this. Veer ji left us in 2010, but we continued it," Ravinder Singh, who was accompanied by his wife, said. The couple volunteers to serve the disadvantaged in every possible manner.

Amidst the din of fastpaced development, in the shadows of skyscrapers and malls, thousands of migrant labourers make the streets of the capital their home. They earn a few rupees, and head back home. While they struggle to make ends meet, the samaritans try to make their stay a bit less cumbersome.

These volunteers work without support from government agencies.

"We finish our work by 10.30 am. The public offices start after that, hence we have never really interacted with government bodies. But, in a way, we are assisting the government."

"(Former Delhi Chief Minister) Sheila Dikshit spoke about a meal for Rs.15 and (the current Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal also proposed to offer meals at Rs.5. But we are doing it for free," Kamaljeet Singh said.


[Courtesy: The Statesman. Edited for sikhchic.com]

September 11, 2015
 

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