A Group Of Mumbai Youths Distributing Iftar On Railway Platform Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

Yasin Qureshi is a known name at Mumbra railway station. He comes here every year with his friends at a specific time each day during the holy month of Ramadan. No, he doesn't have to catch any train. Yasin and his friends come there just to distribute Iftar (food to break fast) to the commuters who pass through the station.

Yasin, who has been a municipal corporator for more than a decade, is known to be doing this for the last twenty years. ¡°My father and my uncle used to do a lot of social work ¨C from helping people financially to lending a hand to those who were in need of social difficulties,¡± he said.

Mumbra's vast majority of the population is Muslim. Yasin remembers that all this began about 20 years ago when one of his friends was observing fast and when he came home at dusk, there was hardly any transportation home and nothing to eat at the time of breaking the fast.

¡°That was when my group of friends and I decided to do something about this. We thought of contributing and buying dates for the people going home from Mumbra station,¡± he said.

Back around 1998, Qureshi was a student of law, and therefore, he and his friends could contribute a smaller amount for help. He tells us that back then they used to collect around Rs 20 per person to get a few kilos of dates.

¡°After a couple of years, we began giving water as well. People began looking forward to coming home, and without any worries about where to find the food to break their fast, and the word began to spread," he recalls.

Qureshi was studying law and was in his second year when his Uncle was asked to contest elections. ¡°However, my Uncle asked me to contest for those and I ended up being into politics,¡± he said.

Yasin said that despite him being in politics, he is known only as as social worker around the vicinity.

¡°Today, we buy dates, fruits, Rooh Afza, some non veg and veg dishes, and water that amounts to about Rs. 2 Lakhs. Since we began working for this cause, Maalik (Almighty) has been very graceful towards us and now we are all able to work more and more towards the cause,¡± Qureshi told us. Speaking about unity in diversity, he informed us that all the food and the fruits are bought by his Hindu sisters and ¡°they help us in all the ways we require ¨C from chopping fruits to getting the food from the market,¡± he proudly tells us.

Qureshi seemed very concerned about the cause and therefore refused to provide a picture of himself when we asked for it.

¡°I do not wish for publicity for this cause. I want to spread the message of love and compassion to the world and only hope that more and more people take up such initiatives as there is nothing more satisfying than feeding the hungry and those in need,¡± he shared.