An Aromatic Altruism

This tea shop owner distributes free food to hundreds of patients & attendants of RGGGH every day

- SINDUJA JANE

RAVING the intense Chennai heat, K Rajeev is busy serving food to scores of people lined in front of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). Stirring a large pot, he hands over steaming porridge to attendants, who can then feed patients. The 44-year-old man, who runs a tea shop on South Mint Street in Park Town, has already cooked a variety of rice dishes for them and is now serving them with the help of volunteers.

For over a decade, Rajeev has cooked meals for complete strangers, a practice that began with a simple request. One afternoon, three women came to his shop asking if he could blend cooked rice in a mixer. Rajeev obliged without hesitation without charging them any money, never anticipating how this simple act would soon turn into a mission that would touch hundreds.