Susheela Raghavan, Educationist Whose
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CLASSIFIEDS MYLAPORE ONLINE TIMES MYLAPORE Effective August 1, 2020, MYLAPORE TIMES Classifieds Online are charged a rate of Rs.250 for first Office is open 20 words and Rs.10 for every additional word.The Classified will be online CALL 2498 2244 TIMES for 2 weeks only. Please pay via bank transfer only. YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWSPAPER For details, call 24982244 / 10 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. WhatsApp 94457 64499. August 29, 2020 5 pages Free Circulation OFFICE : 2498 2244, 2467 1122 EDITORIAL : 2466 0269 WEBSITE : www.mylaporetimes.com This group of Covid workers THIS TEENAGER’S EFFORTS HELPS reaches out to helpless residents HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES IN ALWARPET By Dheepthi O. J. By Bama Ranganathan the money to buy dry rations for Baruva Nagar, a colony located For the past few weeks, a about 20 families. off K. B. Dasan Road, not far from small group of Covid workers Megha Sivakumar has just How did she raise the money? her place. (who visit homes to check on completed her Class 12 from By spreading the word among This process had its hiccups fever and oxygen levels of resi- Chettinad Hari Shree Vidyalayam her friends and setting up G-Pay too - as her team was packing the dents) at Srinivasapuram have in R. A. Puram. The pandemic has been reaching out to residents of and PayTM accounts for easy pay- foodstuff, work had to be put on this neighbourhood. upset her college-plans but this ments. She also posted her idea on hold due to second, long lock down teenager has taken this hiccup her social media pages. The dona- imposed in Chennai. in her stride and done something tions began to trickle in. Her team then got into the positive these past months. As the donations flowed, Megha act in August. The NGO procured expanded her appeal to a the provisions and packed them wider segment of people and into bags. The family members and tapped her family’s contacts. some volunteers chipped in. Her parents and her brother The Mylapore MLA’s office created some buzz. offered to help Megha plan the Says the teen, “Friends distrbution in an orderly manner. and relatives who lived over- This was done on August 21. They go beyond their daily duty because some families are seas thought this would be a Megha says the MLA was helpless and suffer in silence. trustworthy cause and sent impressed by her resolve to help Srinivasapuram is a dense me donations.” others and praised her at the colony located off Loop Road of The collection went up to gathering and on his social media the Marina at its south end. Over 1200 families of daily-wage earn- Rs. 1,50,000. page. ers, maids, fishermen, carpenters “It was a pleasant shock Megha says she has grown a lot and painters reside here. for me and I was determined from this experience. “Being a part Says Deepa Satish, a Covid to do a good job since so many of each step of the process helped worker of this area, “Several families here have lost their people had put their faith in me understand the amount of work livelihood due to the pandemic. me. that goes into a project like this. Many are living in bad condi- Since it was my project, I also learnt that such work is tions now. So, we are personally I decided to do the bulk of possible only through team work reaching out to them in small ways we can.” Recently, through the jobs myself, taking some and collective effort. We cannot the course of Covid work, Deepa help from my parents when I keep talking of change but need and her group came across a needed. I had to manage the to act and make a difference”, young physically challenged accounts and created a What- she says. woman, who had a 10-month old baby. Her husband, a daily-wage sApp group for all those who earner had lost his job following wanted periodic updates the lockdown. The family didn’t about what was happen- even have the money to buy milk Watching on TV the stories of ing,” she says. to feed the baby. people affected by the lockdown, Says Deepa,”So our group of The next challenge was to four/five of us (Covid workers) she began to toss an idea - on ways identify what people needed, pooled in 100 rupees each to pro- to launch a project that would help how to procure these goods and vide milk for the baby for a week. people in her neighbourhood who distribute them. Then through a volunteer, who had lost their jobs. works for Banyan, a NGO, we got Megha says she sought help provisions distributed to them. ‘The journey started in June from her parents. They iden- Now, the family is doing better.” with me realizing the amount of tified a city NGO with prior In another instance, Deepa privilege I have and how with that experience in this field and de- says a pregnant woman desper- privilege I can help those who ately needed rations. “She had no cided on a package of essential one around to help. We supplied are in need,” says this resident of dry food items - rice, toor dhal, groceries to her through an NGO, Seethammal Colony Extension, off cooking oil, salt and spices. that regularly supports people TTK Road. These bags were to be of this area.” Deepa says she She raised Rs. 10,000 and used and her group can only help that donated to 350 families in much. But they do when they come across helpless people here. 2 MYLAPORE TIMES August 29, 2020 Homemade breakfast and lunch door delivered by this Mandaveli duo By Dheepthi O. J. sambhar, rasam, kootu, VINCENT D’SOUZA poriyal. The duo is also More and more offering an option of One of the areas in our neighbourhood which we at Mylaporeans are buying meals without Mylapore Times regularly report and write on are the kuppams venturing into new rice. “This is aimed of San Thome and Pattinapakkam zones. food businesses. at people who prefer Located as they are on the seaside and off the high road that Most recently, buying only the side runs parallel to the sea, the areas and its people tend to stay off Mandaveli based dishes and cook rice our radar. In a way, you may say we often do not turn our sights brother-sister duo at home.” there. – Swaminathan The food, Swa- Most of our contacts in these areas are community leaders, Ramachandran and minathan says, is women’s group heads and social workers. Kavitha, a social Sarada Ramachandran prepared at his friend’s worker who has been working here for many years, associated have started one. house and then delivered. with different groups, is always ready to share stories with us. They are now door deliver- To ensure a personal touch And ask for help to be put out in Mylapore Times. ing home-cooked vegetarian breakfast with customers, he and his homemaker A fortnight ago, she asked me if we could be of help to two and lunch to Mylapore, Mandaveli and sister deliver personally. sisters who had lost their father and the family was in dire straits. R.A.Puram. “We wear a mask and gloves when we The family lives on the fringe of Mandavelipakkam; the girls’ For two years, the duo has been are out.” selling homemade podis (sambhar podi, mom and her mother-in-law were, till the pandemic broke out Their business seems to be slowly rasam podi and idly podi) and thokku in late March working as maids in neighbourhood houses. They picking up now. “A small group of (tomato, manga) to people. must have brought home some Rs.5000 every month. people have started buying from us Says Swaminathan, a working Both girls studied in a prominent school close to home but regularly. In fact, people also want us professional, “Those products have now did not have the means to pay even part of the fees that to deliver on weekends especially on been moving well. So we had the idea of school had asked students to pay. Sundays. However, we are unable to starting a food business. go out for delivery due to complete Yes, they would pick up the text-books, the bag and the This lockdown, when we realised lockdown on Sundays.” footwear that the state provided every academic year to aided there is demand for home-cooked food, In time, when the demand increases, schools. we pitched in to try our luck.” the duo plan to deliver dinner too. But they were finding it difficult to rustle up some 8000 Called ‘Mangalam Foods’, their new A plate of two idlis cost Rs. 40. rupees for starters. The family had borrowed money in the recent venture provides idli, vada, pongal and Meals – Rs 135. The menu without past and so, turning to the familiar resources was out of question. sevai for breakfast. rice is priced at Rs 110. To order call We put out a SOS request for help and it came on time. Part The lunch menu includes rice, 8148910220 of the fees were paid. The rest will have to be paid over the year. But there was another problem. Taking part in online classes offered by the school teachers. The family possessed an old phone and borrowing a better and suitable one from an uncle Some Mylaporeans resume using services who lived close-by was not practical.