A warm feast pickled with affection

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The feast they offered on Thursday will be cherished more for the warmth with which it was served than for the tasty delicacies spread on the plantain leaves. A group of friends who bonded together during their college days met again on Uthradam day to serve a feast for some special guests.   The guests were no celebrities. They came with dull faces and in even duller clothing. On any other day they would have been spotted hunting for the left-overs from a stinking heap of food packets. But on Thursday, some 35 beggars in the city had thoran,kichadi,pappad and a wide spread of curries for their lunch and to wrap it up, a mouth watering ‘Paal payasam’. Thanks to the initiative of a batch of old students which organised a delicious Onam feast for the beggars without any tinge of formalities.  ‘’The group did not want to become a formal organisation with a president or secretary,” said Abiram, one of the members of the group. The ‘Onasadya’ was served to the inmates of ‘Sakshathkaram’, the rehabilitation centre for beggars of the City Corporation at West Fort.  The guests also had a distinguished host on the occasion. Mayor K Chandirka, who was the chief guest, served food to all the inmates before she had the ‘Sadya’ herself. The Mayor also had the company of councillors who picked up the platters to serve their guests.  The entire function was organised in a non-formal way. There were no long speeches which would have bored those present awaiting a sumptuous feast.   The money for the feast was arranged through contributions from members of the group. In fact,friends of many of the members of the group had offered to extend support. However, the group decided not to take money from outside sources,said Sreekumar, another member of the group.  “We have been organising such programmes for a long time. In fact, during the past we had organised Onasadyas to beggars who were living on the street,” said Sajila Krishnan, another member of the group. Playback singer Rajalekshmi and various councillors also took part in the Onasadya.