If you had not heard of Narayanan Krishnan, as I had not, it is a collective failure. This is one of the most incredible stories of personal commitment.
Narayanan Krishnan, all of 29 years old now, does what he was professionally trained to do as a chef. Feed people. Only Krishnan does not do this in the swanky confines of a 5-star hotel. Every day, he wakes up at 4 am, cooks a simple hot meal and then, along with his team, loads it in a van and travels about 200 km feeding the homeless in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Krishnan feeds, often with his hands, almost 400 destitute people every day. And for those who need it, he provides a free haircut too.
According to CNN, eight years ago, this award-winning chef with a five-star hotel chain was all set to go to Switzerland for a high-profile posting. On a visit to a Madurai temple, he came across a homeless, old man eating his own human waste. That stark sight changed Krishnan's life.
Much to the dismay of his parents, CNN says, Krishnan abandoned his career plans and decided to spend his life and his professional training in looking after those who could not care for themselves. He has provided more than 1.2 million hot meals through his nonprofit organisation Akshaya Trust, and now hopes to extend this to shelter for the homeless too.
Krishnan is the only Indian in a list of 10 heroes that CNN has picked worldwide to honour. One of them will be chosen CNN Hero of the Year, selected by the public through an online poll. If many Indians get together to vote for this inspiring man, he can win by a long mile. If Krishnan wins he will get $100,000 in addition to the $25,000 that he gets for being shortlisted for the Top 10. Akshaya Trust needs all the monetary support it can get to build on Krishnan's dream. Let's help him get there.
Vote for Krishnan here. (http://heroes.cnn.com/vote.aspx) The poll continues through November 18 at 6 a.m. ET.
Note: Entire post is reproduced from NDTV. I have blogged on Krishnan before albeit, if I remember correctly.
Praveen Sir
ReplyDeleteAn article on Nayaranan's activities and Akshaya Trust was forwarded 2 years back to the "organisation" for onward sharing but never made it - No prizes for guessing why!
Three prominent things in Narayanan's actions are noteworthy
a) That Narayan had a choice - to be successful in life materially (i.e to go to Switzerland) or perform Seva- He choose the latter-This is courage to pursue his convictions.
I myself was given a very senior postition in Superspeciality Hospital in 1991. A Indian NRI gentleman setting up the hospital then had told me that he had given up USD 200mln worth of fortune in the US to run this hospital-and he was convinced he made the right choice. His word of advice to me - "Have the courage to follow your convinctions and save yourself decades of struggle chasing success"!- I wish I had heeded his advice then.
b) His commitment and care for the helpless and the forsaken is selfless. Even if no one recognised his work, he would still do whatever he is doing because his work is his reward. Even when Municipality in Madurai prevented him from doing work, he continued undettered.
"Seva is something that should be done even if people humiliate you, abuse you and throw stones at you' - He is a living example for this statement.
c) In the material world resources precede commitment i.e you take up that much responsibility and commitment which your resources allow you to take up. In spiritual world it is the other way around. The more you commit to doing good, the more resources will flow to you. From a humble beginning of taking care of 5 destitutes a day to where he has now gone taking up projects like Akshaya Home, is a proof that while doing service resources chase a committed selfless cause!
You know sir, your choice of words is very interesting... resources 'chase' a committed selfless cause. A very rare phenomenon, but a phenomenal phenomenon, nonetheless. Like everything else worthwhile, commitment has to stem from courage. There is no path less taken by for the courageous,- in fact, quite often, there is no path at all. How the mighty mind makes things happen!
ReplyDeleteQ&A Sri Sri Ravishankar on Commitment
ReplyDeleteCommitment has value when things are not so charming. When things are interesting you do not need commitment at all. You never say you are committed to doing something that is very interesting or charming. When the path is charming, commitment is effortless and is part of your nature.
Q: Why is it easier for some of us to commit whilst some find it difficult to commit to any cause?
A: Because you do not know that whatever you are committed to brings you strength.If you are committed to your family then your family supports you, if you are committed to your society, you enjoy the support of society. If you are committed to God, God gives you strength. If you are committed to Truth, Truth brings you strength.
Often one is not aware of this idea and that is why one is hesitant to commit to a greater cause. Also there is a fear that commitment would weaken one or take away one's freedom. Your commitment to a cause is bound to bring you comfort in the long run.
Commitment in life grows toward a higher cause. The higher the commitment, greater is the good for all.
Q. How can one always remain committed?
A: You know, there is nothing like one commitment in life. It does not work like that. From time to time you have to take on many ommitments at many times in life. That is part of your nature. If you are weak, you will drop your commitment everyday. If you are strong, you will stick to it. How does one become strong and remain committed? Pranayama and meditation is the key