Man with a mission

Our family with Mr. Krishnan

We drove up to New Jersey last weekend to meet a real life hero Mr. Narayanan Krishnan.from Madurai. My high school teacher turned philanthropist Mr. T.R. ChandraSekar (TRC sir) knew Mr. Krishnan very well several years back, much before the rest of the world recognized his work. I have had several conversations with TRC sir on the works of Mr. Krishnan. Because of Mr. TRC's acquaintance we were lucky to get a private audience with Mr. Krishnan on his U.S. tour. We spent some time discussing his vision and the next steps briefly. People were lining up to congratulate him on his great work, wish him well and donate to his cause.

Krishnan is a humble individual with a great conviction for his cause. He is focused on giving 100% of the funds he receives to helping the helpless. We discussed about sustainability and scalability of his operations. His immediate goal, he expressed, is to get the 200 souls on the streets of Madurai and the surrounding 150 KM area to "the home of the destitute" that is under construction. That is an ambitious project to bring all the socially needy and mentally incapable people from the streets under one roof and give them food and the dignity of life. He is not envisioning expanding the effort to other cities or institutionalizing his organization. His primary goal it to have no financial overhead. All those who help him, work voluntarily and are well to do in their life. He is sincere in his vision to deliver quality food and shelter to the homeless and helpless from the streets of Madurai. When I asked him about the continuity of his work long term I was amazed at his answer. He said and I quote "I found this mission when I was 25. When I am 70, I believe God will send me a 25 year old soul to take charge and lead the cause. I strongly believe such an individual will come when the time comes!". It was obvious that he has made up his mind to dedicate his life for the cause.

Suji, TRC sir and Mr. Narayanan

We briefly chat with Krishnan's father Mr. Narayanan (rightmost in the picture above). He made a blanket statement upfront. "It was all Krishnan's wish. He made us believe in his cause." He went on to narrate an incident that was both shocking and showed the magnanimity of Mr. Krishnan. Mr. Narayanan continued, "When I am alive, he (Krishnan, as his only son)  is not even supposed to perform last rites for my brothers when they pass away. Such is our family tradition. But Krishnan came home one day and said he came from the crematorium after disposing off an orphaned corpse from the streets. We were shocked. But little did we know that he continued to do that for many more in the following months and years". We were pretty moved by this personal story of not only Mr. Krishnan but also the sacrifices of the entire family to support his cause. Long after we left from there our hearts and minds were filled with the man's selfless sacrifice and the drive with which he goes about serving the helpless people day after day.

Mr. Krishnan says this as a lesson learned from his work. "All good work will bring in the required support". With this belief, he has started the project to build the home for the destitute as an eight block building on roughly $1.5 million U.S. dollar budget. He has already got full commitment for five out of the eight blocks. He continues to get support for the other three blocks. If you are interested, please visit Akshaya USA to contribute.

Ugly Child 

by Virginia DiTomas

I did not like him reaching out,

I thought, "what an ugly child!"

Until I touched his small brown hand,

Until he shyly smiled.

Though he stood on the dirty street,

Hungry, ragged and unshod,

I looked into this small child's eyes

And saw the face of God.