Septuagenarian sets up community almirah

R B Balasubramaniyam notes that has always lived by a piece of advice his teacher have him when he w

R B Balasubramaniyam notes that has always lived by a piece of advice his teacher have him when he was in school: The quality of your life is determined more by what you give away than what you have.

Seventy-year-old Balasubramaniyam acted on just that advice when he installed an almirah in front of his quaint little shop in T Nagar. The almirah is for anyone to deposit anything that have ceased to use: Clothes, utensils, toys etc. These items would be left there for the needy to pick up, free of cost.

He says the initiative was started after his son was laid off from work because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We decided to open a tea and snacks shop with four major concepts. ‘Udavum ullangal’, the fourth concept, is about starting a community initiative.

Slowly, people started to respond. Initially, they deposited toys, then saris, masks, t-shirts etc. People always drop by and pick up what they need, free of cost. I clean the rack every day and make sure that it is easily accessible to everybody.”