[arr] Re: In their maestro’s FOOTSTEPS

[ramakrisha laxmana subramanian siva gopala acharya iyer .aiyooo amma idli wada dosa sambar chatni .]

You guys are doing a brilliant job!
Hats off...

--- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Gopal Srinivasan <catchg...@...> wrote:
>
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> In their maestro's FOOTSTEPS
> 
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> This group of AR Rahman fans feeds the poor every Sunday
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> Lakshmi Kumaraswami | TNN 
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>    For the past one year, a group of people on motorbikes have been 
> congregating at Kodambakkam
> every Sunday. Laden with food packets, they hop off their bikes and 
> distribute it to anyone who
> looks like they need a meal — rag pickers, sewage workers and beggars. These 
> good Samaritans
> have one thing in common: they are all diehard fans of music maestro AR 
> Rahman. 
> 
>    Last March, after meeting on an online group, some of the members — 
> Vithur, Uma Shankar,
> Rakesh, Rasol Hanifaa and Somu — decided to do their bit for society. 
> "Usually, we post a
> message on the site saying we're going to meet and distribute food to the 
> poor. Subsequently,
> many people turn up," says Vithur. The group assembles at Shri Mahaganapathy 
> fast foods in
> Kodambakkam and buys packed food — usually tomato or brinjal rice along with 
> an appalam — for
> Rs 300 to Rs 500. Then they drive around the area, handing out food to the 
> underprivileged. "We
> initially started out in Annanagar, but then decided to focus on Kodambakkam. 
> As Rahman lives
> in the area, we feel like we're doing a service and staying close to our 
> mentor," says Uma
> Shankar. Vithur adds that the students of KM Conservatory also often help out 
> and they end up
> feeding at least 40 people. 
>    The group is united by their love for Rahman and inspired by the AR Rahman 
> Fo u n d at i o n
> , which works towards eradicating poverty and hunger. "His humility pushes us 
> to do something
> good for society. This is our small contribution to a cause he supports," 
> says Rakesh. On
> special days like Independence Day or Rahman's birthday, the group visits 
> orphanages and
> distributes a special meal. They organised a similar meal on Rahman's return 
> to the city after
> his triumphant run at the Oscars. "Usually, when we distribute food, we don't 
> mention Rahman's
> name. But this time as we gave away special sweets and food, we said `Ellam 
> pugazhum
> irraivanake' as a tribute to him," says Vithur. He adds that the BlaaZe 
> joined the group when
> they distributed free meals after H Sridhar, Rahman's sound engineer, passed 
> away. 
>    The group plans to continue this service as long as possible. "We would 
> like to expand but
> with our hectic schedules this is the only way we can do it regularly," says 
> Uma Shankar.
> Rakesh adds that there isn't a better feeling than seeing the happiness of 
> the people they
> feed. "It would probably be their only meal that day. Sometimes I leave the 
> packets by their
> side while they are asleep and when they wake up, nothing can match the look 
> on their faces,"
> he says. 
>    lakshmi.kumarasw...@...
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> GIVING BACK: The fan club before heading out to feed the poor
>