DHARWAD : Rajkumar Madiwalar is happiest in the company of the inmates of Maitri Old Age Home in Hubballi’s Navanagar. The feeling is reciprocal. The inmates too eagerly await two important days — Mother’s Day and the birthday of Rajkumar’s son. On both these occasions, they know they will be showered with loads of love and gifts.
Rajkumar (36), an accountant from Dharwad, has always gone the extra mile to help the members of the old age home. This year there’s been an extra “warmth” in his gesture. He ran a campaign on social networking sites, seeking donation of shawls for the seniors. His request to writers and famous personalities, specially, did not go unheeded.
Offers started pouring in and he collected 25 shawls in less than a month. All the collected shawls are now helping the old age home inmates to stay warm this winter.
“I wrote to many senior writers and famous personalities in Dharwad for shawls and received an overwhelming response. Even after the campaign ended, I kept receiving offers to help. After shawls, now I am planning to donate cots from my own savings to some of the senior members of the old age home. Each cot will cost about `3,000,” says Rajkumar.
Basavaraj Sulibhavi, one of the writers, who donated his shawls, says that it is a unique and good initiative.
“Soon after seeing the message on a social site, I decided to be a part of the noble cause. I called up Rajkumar and agreed to donate shawls. More youths should come up with such innovative ideas to help the poor and elderly in society. We had many shawls which were lying unused. Now, they will not let elderly people suffer during winters and I got immense satisfaction and happiness in donating them,” he adds.
“More than shawls and gifts, we value the feelings Rajkumar has for us. We often feel secluded and ignored in our lives but people like Rajkumar give us ray of hope and confidence to live life happily. He has become a part of our old age home family,” says Bassappa Alagawadi, an inmate.
“We use the shawls with lot of affection. We wear them during our walks and thank Rajkumar for his love towards people like us,” says another member Yellawwa Sirur.
M Hussain, the caretaker of the old age home, says Rajkumar is a much-loved visitor.
“Many donors come and go. But people like Rajkumar leave everlasting impression on our minds. He silently listens to the problems of the members and also shares some quality time with them. Members feel happy interacting with him, and they eagerly wait for him to come back,” he says.
Rajkumar often refuses monetary help to serve the inmates.
A foreigner residing in Dharwad had recently offered some help, but Rajkumar politely declined it.
“I neither want to raise funds nor depend on others for the donations. Whatever I can save from my earnings, I shall use that amount for the welfare of the inmates,” he says.
Hailing from a middle class family, he is also an avid writer.