With his determination, funds from good Samaritans and with the support of the society, today Ramesh Kumar’s kiosk selling packed food was declared open in Coimbatore
Having being disowned by his family for being physically handicap, Ramesh Kumar, originally a resident of Coimbatore, finally saw light at the end of the dark tunnel. A kind hearted Samaritan family who makes and sells packets of food for a living gave him a place in their home and in their hearts too. Ramesh who cannot walk on his, as he is physically challenged, moved into their home. Since then on, he is dependent on them.
He has no idea about the whereabouts of his family and siblings. A source close to Ramesh shares with us that following the death of his mother, Ramesh was not accepted by the rest of his family. Today, Ramesh is the proud owner and manager of a small petty shop (kiosk) that has been set up on the busy Mettupalayam Road, outside the famous Saibaba Temple on this road. His shop sells packed snacks, short-eats and chocolates. And mind you, its owner is against selling cigarettes and tobacco as he knows they are harmful, despite being aware of the profit margin involved in selling them.
It all started when a few volunteers of NGO Food Bank set out to distribute packets of food as a part of their routine food drive. During one of their drives, one of the members of this NGO came across Ramesh Kumar on the Mettupalayam Road. It was at this time that Ramesh expressed his desire to do something on his own for a living.
This volunteer of Food Bank shares “When we met Ramesh, he expressed his wish to become independent. Since our NGO does not involve in supporting people with cash, we passed on this request to city-based NGO Kovai Vergal. This NGO collected funds through crowd funding and thus today, the kiosk that sells short eats has been declared open and Ramesh is its proud owner.” said one of the volunteers of Food Bank.
Seconding him was Anandhan S, coordinator of NGO Kovai Vergal who said “When we met Ramesh for the first time, we saw the determination in him to do something on his own and become independent. He was unhappy that he is dependent on a family who themselves are struggling to make ends meet. Thus, we made arrangements for him (Ramesh) to earn some money by setting up this petty shop (kiosk) that sells packed snacks and chocolates. The paper work for setting up this kiosk took time, however, we are happy that better late than never, it is open.”
Ramesh’s kiosk is located on the busy Mettupalayam Road. Kovai Vergal is confident that Ramesh will earn at least rupees hundred a day. We are told that he will continue to stay with the family in Saibaba Colony. An auto rickshaw has been hired to transport him to the kiosk every morning and back home in the night. The next time you travel on the Mettupalayam road, do make pit-stop at this kiosk. May be you can shake hands with its owner and you surely can make a difference by saying a few words of appreciation.
SimpliCity salutes the determination of Ramesh and the goodness of people around him.