FORCES FOR GOOD

Bringing care to those who need it most, these extraordinary Indians are putting humanity first

To Each, a Second Chance

Thomas ‘Auto’ Raja, Social Worker, 54

The atmosphere is sombre this December morning at the New Ark Mission of India in Doddagubbi, north of Bengaluru city. Six residents—all of them elderly, terminally-ill and alone in the world when they first arrived—had passed away the previous night. People speak in hushed tones; the air is still. Only the voice of Thomas ‘Auto’ Raja, New Ark’s founder, cuts through, dissipating the gloom. “It is a large number, even for us,” he says while waiting for the mortuary vans to arrive and other formalities to be completed.

Despite the sadness, the burly, bright-eyed 54-year-old seems able to find some acceptance in the knowledge that at least the Ark was able to offer the departed some dignity in their last days. Otherwise, “most of them would have died on the streets before being discovered by municipal workers,” he says.

In 2022, Raja will complete 25 years in the service of the homeless and destitute in the city of Bengaluru. The Ark’s large facility at Doddagubbi is home to 750 people, each of its three floors serving as a large dormitory. Lined in rows, the beds—some still in their bare metal frames—indicate room for more residents. As Raja walks the halls, a fragile, elderly woman, looks up and smiles at him in greeting. He goes over to those who call out to him and shares a quick chat in either Kannada, Hindi or Tamil.