“Back in 2008, when I was an event manager, an elderly woman at a shelter shared a small craving of chai and jalebi late at night. I brought them to her the next morning. She finished her breakfast, smiled, and passed away peacefully just a few hours later. That moment stayed with me. It taught me that while we can’t fix every tragedy, we can at least make sure someone’s hardest days are met with kindness and dignity.

My journey with Good Samaritans India has seen many chapters. We started with a shelter home for the sick and the destitute, and for years, that was our main focus. Now, we have also started the community kitchen, taking our work directly to the streets where the need is greatest.

If you walk down the lane by the old Manohar Talkies in Secunderabad around noon, you’ll see a queue stretching down the road. It’s people from all walks of life—daily wagers and elderly folks who have been forgotten by the system. They are all there for Karuna Kitchen.

I started this after getting inspired by Gautam Gambhir’s ‘Jan Rasoi’ in Delhi. I realized that hunger is the most basic problem people face every single day.

Every day our menu changes to include Khatti Khichdi, rice, dal rice, sabzi, curd rice, ragi malt, butter milk, upma, idly, chai and a sweet—all for exactly one rupee. We don’t do it for free because we want people to feel like customers, not beggars. When they hand over that one-rupee coin, they are buying a meal with their own dignity.

And now, even during the peak summer, our volunteers and supporters have been out at the Secunderabad bus stand every day, handing out Ragi malt and buttermilk to people to get respite from the heat.

I am deeply grateful to the volunteers and supporters who keep this going. My only hope is that this work continues and that no one in our city has to sleep on an empty stomach. Aiding others is a fundamental duty we owe to one another. When everyone comes together to support and continue this mission, it will truly be a good thing for our society.”

— George Rakesh Babu, Founder of Good Samaritans India