A selfless life | Deccan Chronicle
DECCAN CHRONICAL
How many of us have provided shelter to someone from the street? Or welcomed a street urchin into our homes, or even bother to rescue an old person and provided them with care and support? Meet Mahendiran P., from Coimbatore who has done exactly that.
All it took was a simple gesture by stranger who brought his mentally ill sister back home safe. From then on, he strived to set up the NGO Eera Nenjam in Coimbatore, which is on a mission to save lives.
Even though his work has been recognised as far as South America, Mahendiran leads a simple life. “The first person I ever helped was my sister.
My motivation to help people from the streets came when someone helped us by bringing her back home. That gesture encouraged me to do the same, but I chose to help an entire city,” he explains.
The first person he rehabilitated was in Coimbatore, when an unknown person contacted him asking to help a mentally challenged person at Nanjundapuram.
“The person I was asked to help was from a very small home. Her parents were unable to care for her, so they asked me to help and I did.
I took her to an izham called, Anballayam Marvalvu-izhlam, where they volunteered to take her in and care for her.
In fact, my biggest motivator and resource person is a journalist from this organisation who regularly informs me about people on the street who need help,” he says.
He has worked with ailing and challenged people, rescued street urchins by giving them a place to stay and be cared for, and has even reunited several challenged people with their families.
“It’s humbling to do something nice for another person. When I see people smiling on being reunited with their long-lost family members, it motivates me to work further.
That’s the reason I set up Eera Nenjam; I want people to carry on my work and this was the only way I could see possible,” adds Mahendiran.
With seven years of noble service behind him, today, he has 50 volunteers from across the state assisting him with his work.
“Many of our volunteers, including my close friend R. Balachandra, have helped out a lot. Since the state lacks rehabilitation centres and homes to care for the mentally challenged, someday, through my trust, I want to ensure that thousands of these neglected souls will have a place where they can be cared for,” he says hopefully.
A selfless life
All it took was a simple gesture by stranger who brought his mentally ill sister back home safe. From then on, he strived to set up the NGO Eera Nenjam in Coimbatore, which is on a mission to save lives.
Even though his work has been recognised as far as South America, Mahendiran leads a simple life. “The first person I ever helped was my sister.
My motivation to help people from the streets came when someone helped us by bringing her back home. That gesture encouraged me to do the same, but I chose to help an entire city,” he explains.
The first person he rehabilitated was in Coimbatore, when an unknown person contacted him asking to help a mentally challenged person at Nanjundapuram.
“The person I was asked to help was from a very small home. Her parents were unable to care for her, so they asked me to help and I did.
I took her to an izham called, Anballayam Marvalvu-izhlam, where they volunteered to take her in and care for her.
In fact, my biggest motivator and resource person is a journalist from this organisation who regularly informs me about people on the street who need help,” he says.
He has worked with ailing and challenged people, rescued street urchins by giving them a place to stay and be cared for, and has even reunited several challenged people with their families.
“It’s humbling to do something nice for another person. When I see people smiling on being reunited with their long-lost family members, it motivates me to work further.
That’s the reason I set up Eera Nenjam; I want people to carry on my work and this was the only way I could see possible,” adds Mahendiran.
With seven years of noble service behind him, today, he has 50 volunteers from across the state assisting him with his work.
“Many of our volunteers, including my close friend R. Balachandra, have helped out a lot. Since the state lacks rehabilitation centres and homes to care for the mentally challenged, someday, through my trust, I want to ensure that thousands of these neglected souls will have a place where they can be cared for,” he says hopefully.
