Bengaluru's Homeless Have Given 75,000 Rupees For #NepalEarthquake Relief. What Have You Done?

Vegetable vendor Mannikantan makes Rs 200 a day. A portion of this goes into booze daily. For the past few days, though, instead of heading to the nearest liquor shop, Mannikantan has been making a detour toward two wooden boxes placed in the middle of the slum where he lives. It's not just him. When their workday ends, most of the 2,500 residents of the Sanjay Gandhi Nagar slum in Peenya II stage religiously practise the same ritual.

Soon after the earthquake struck Nepal, the slum-dwellers, who are daily-wage labourers and illiterate, decided to donate 10 per cent of the earnings and got the boxes put up. They say they wanted to do their bit for the victims. However, this large-hearted band of benefactors has only makeshift sheds on a pavement to call home. A month ago, the houses allotted to them by the slum board were razed since they were in a dilapidated state. Till the rehabilitation project to build new houses is completed, they have to make do with the footpath. None of this came in the way when they decided to reach out to others in need.

Three days after Nepal witnessed its first earthquake on April 25, the slum- dwellers decided they were going to do something. Since then, stopping by at the boxes to make their contribution became a ritualistic practise.When both the boxes filled up to the brim, it dawned on them that they had no idea how to send their donations across. The residents then approached the jurisdictional Rajagopal Nagar police, where they were told to approach the local MLA who could help them send the money to the Prime Minister's relief fund and ensure it reached the earthquake victims.

But the police too were initially surprised to see a flock of slum-dwellers enter the station with two big boxes. "We were curious about the contents of the boxes. When we heard their story, we were moved. They sought our help to send the money to Nepal, but since we are not authorised to directly send the money, we directed them to the local MLA," a police official said. Meanwhile, president of the slum's women's organisation, 40-year-old Nirmala, says it was their own experience that sparked the spontaneous decision. She says most of the slum residents were victims of the Cauvery riots of 1991.

"Some miscreants had set our makeshift huts ablaze and we even lost a child in the mishap. We were on the streets with no food to eat, no clothes to wear, and no roof over our heads. That is when help began pouring in from various quarters and we were given clothes, food, and temporary sheds to live in.

Being from the slum, we know the pain of those who are homeless and hungry. There is nothing worse than starvation; at least adults can manage. Imagine the condition of little children, crying for food," she told Bangalore Mirror.

"This is our hard-earned money and we have not taken a rupee from anyone else. We have placed the donation boxes in the centre of our slum and all of us make it a point to donate a part of our daily wages. There is a Ganesha temple in the vicinity too, and whatever money comes from devotees as offerings is also being put in the boxes," Nirmala added.

Though the boxes remain unopened, residents estimate there could be well over Rs 75,000 cash.

Originally published in the Bangalore Mirror