Sunday 6 October 2019

FULFILLING A TENET

The Siddha path is all about learning Ma told us once. True to her words we have come to realize that it is a great institution of learning.

When we were initiated to do charity by Agathiyar, we targeted the children and old folks homes for our ease and convenience in giving out aid. We gave them cooked food and served them and handed out groceries. Then we began to realize that not all were orphans or elderly deserted by their children. Some children were picked up by their parents while some elderly left to visit their children, coming back again to stay at these homes.

Then we were shown dire poverty, on the streets as Sri Krishna and Sri Dewiy of Agathiyar Universal Mission (AUM) took us to the spots in the city where they provided pre-packed cooked food to the hungry. Taking the cue from them, we at Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM), began street feeding and occasionally held medical camps on the streets and in these homes. But slowly we realized that too many NGO's we focused on helping the homeless by giving them food and conducting similar medical camps.

“Few are truly homeless. Most of them have children with homes. Some of them visit their children’s home during the day and return to the streets in the evening,” Phee said. He said that in the past, during integrated operations with the police, welfare workers rounded up vagrants and those with children were persuaded to contact them.
“We counselled their children and they went home together. But a few days later, the old folks were back on the streets. They get bored in their children’s apartments. Out on the streets, they have their friends. They sell recyclable goods and earn enough to buy food,” he said.

Phee said many of them revealed that they grew up in the heritage enclave, usually in homes they had rented for decades. After their children moved out and landlords took back the property, they did not want to leave their familiar surroundings. As for the truly destitute, Phee said welfare workers would constantly try to persuade them to be placed in old folks homes. However, they refused. “They are terrified of old folks homes, no matter how we describe the happy living conditions there,” he added.

A senior citizen, who declined to be named, said he could earn between RM200 and RM300 a month from selling what he picked up from the bins.
In our rounds feeding those on the streets, we never failed to see a senior citizen engaged with another playing a board game under a flyover while his grandson ran around the streets. One day I asked the kid if he was schooling? He replied "No," and that his parents could not afford it. I was surprised as only a minimum token is collected as school fees in Government schools and it was compulsory to send children to schools. He told me his routine each day was to leave his home at Gombak, some 13 kilometers away. He would follow his Grandpa into the city once his parents went to work. They would have free breakfast at the Pit Stop Community Cafe, a Soup Kitchen (https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/10/291333/pit-stop-community-cafe-serves-comfort-food-kls-elderly-homeless-and-poor) stationed in a shop lot, that dishes out free food to anyone hungry and head for this safe and comfy spot that has concrete benches laid out under the shade of the flyover. His Grandpa would play the board game whole day long and leave for home before the kid's parents return from work. Meanwhile, their lunch is taken care of with other mobile soup kitchens providing food or in the event they do not turn up, the grandpa-grandson duo head back to Pit Stop to have a meal before heading back home.

Once as we had given out the buns and packet drinks to the folks on the streets we waited to observe how the established mobile soup kitchens ran their affair. As the tables were set out for the medical camp, another sector of the volunteers prepared to serve food from their food truck. As this organization named Pertiwi (https://pertiwi.org.my/) was a regular face on the streets, the homeless began to queue up for food, having been disciplined by their sponsors. As I stood watching a man addressed me from behind. Turning around he engaged in a conversation with me. He told me his story. Three generations have been living off the streets and return to it for the night slumber. He worked collecting waste food from several restaurants and dumped it elsewhere. He would earn RM70 a day that bought him a couple of bottles of cheap liquor. He would receive food delivered regularly for four days in a week, by this and another 2 established NGO's.  He seemed extremely happy living this life.  

During the month of Ramadhan as many Muslim organizations and individuals begin to do charity, we saw food stocked in access by the recipients and go to waste, dumped in the rubbish bins, while there were groups who left whole pile of food on the walkway for people to take.  

Seeing the abundance of food given away by charitable organizations and charitable individuals to those living off the streets and on the streets, we moved to provide the food to the poor in their very homes. When the estates that brought a livelihood were taken over and sold to developers, these people found themselves evicted from their estate homes to longhouses as a transit point while waiting for the promised homes to be built or left to fend for themselves entirely. Some new homes materialized while many did not. 

One such scheme is the PPR Kampong Muhibbah homes that we have begun to serve its tenants with pre-packed food now. Apart from having to source the income to save to buy these units or rent them, the tenants had the utility bills to worry about, besides having to bring food to their dining table. Many are single mothers and grannies who had to care for their children and grandchildren and attend work too.  

Picking them at random we began distributing cooked food and groceries. Seeing their plight we continued giving those who we figured deserved while stopping aid to others who we saw were slightly better off. Agathiyar who brought us to serve others told us to get started and find out along the way, from experience, if we needed to continue aiding others rather than think and contemplate about helping them. He told us that our experience will help us identify who deserves the aid and who does not. He continued that if we were to think too much at the onset of any service orientated program we will never get off the ground in bringing aid to others. 

And so following his guidance we have come to identify many who needed a helping hand. At the same time, we dropped aid to those who we figured was slightly better than the others or well off. Today we help many hardcore poor families in PPR, besides feeding and giving them groceries, we try to uplift their standard of living and bring them self dignity, hope, healing, and our prayers. 

We have begun to see the results. Last evening while on our rounds to deliver the food, a single mother told us that since the day we started giving them food all their sickness has gone. She and two of her children were earlier prone to fits. The mother-daughter in another household thanked us mentioning that they were alive today only because of our contributions. Another grandma and her daughter are forever grateful for providing food supplements and milk to their granddaughter and daughter respectively, that has given her strength to stand, walk and now run. 

Food is made available more regularly and distributed to these families, at times as many as 14, after Sri Krishna and Sri Dewiy took on the task of sourcing excess food from the host of marriage events and family and private functions. Whenever there was excess, the host would notify them, and their dedicated Food Rangers or they themselves would head for the venue, pack and bring them over to be repacked into smaller quantities for individual distribution, topping up the menu if necessary, or sending them in bulk to large families.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=643364452819489
http://www.astroulagam.com.my/news/article/112304/food-going-to-waste-call-the-food-rangers
https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2016/04/how-i-came-to-agathiyar.html
https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-ideal-couple-ideal-devotee.html

Although we do not hand out cash aids or engage in long term commitments like rental or paying utility bills, the money saved from having to buy food and groceries is used by the tenants to settle their bills and debts. Serving these homes we see results and we have come to see a change in their lives something that we could not possibly monitor when we fed the homeless and those living off the streets.

Besides Sri Krishna and his wife, we have Bala Chandran and his family, Rajah and his family, Mahindran and his wife, Malar, Shahalini, Dyalen, Suren and a host of others from what was originally Agathiyar Vanam Malaysia (AVM) that took on the name Agathiyar Tapovanam Malaysia (ATM) given by Lord Muruga, and renamed as Agathiyar Kudumban (AK) recently, spending their private time in the service of others. Members from abroad: the Kugan-Koggie family from South Africa; Sanjiv-Monica family, Sandeep-Rakhi family, Raakesh-SriVidya family and several others from India, all have contributed towards helping the unfortunate in their own places of residence. Master Arunan from our AK family, an exponent of the art of Varma healing is aiding a 20-year-old boy who has been crippled since birth to at least help him stand and use crutches to walk.

Seeing the smile on the faces of the poor, hungry and unfortunate brings contentment and joy in us, although we would very much like to rid off all of their troubles. If only we had a magic wand. Speaking of a magic wand, a university colleague of my daughter showed us the Pranic Healing wand and told us she was healing herself and others after seeking to be cured of her medical problem with the Pranic Violet Healers.

We are proud that we have taken up the call of Agathiyar to fulfill one of the five tenets that he revealed for the purpose of taking human birth at the Tamil Sangam. These days I have come to believe that the reason he has given us a perfect body and limbs and good health is to help another. As we march on, under his shadow and protection, we believe he shall bring us to do more for mankind. 




















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