'Mission Chai' heartens cancer patients at Kidwai

 With small cups of hot tea, Rakesh Nayyar brings smile to the faces of cancer patients at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology every morning.

An engineer with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), he started serving tea to patients free of charge one-and-a-half-years ago. “For me, tea is just an excuse to help people in need and interact with them. Initially, I was distributing medicines to patients free of charge. Then, I thought if I could get tea, many would come forward, too,” he said.

Nayyar, a native of Amritsar, and his team of volunteers visit the hospital every morning and serve tea to patients and their attendants. Nayyar said, he was inspired by a sweeper in a hospital in his hometown. At the time, his mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital. He saw a sweeper go to a nearby gurdwara every day and get tea for patients. “I thought when she can, why can’t I?”

Nayyar said that many patients at Kidwai were so poor that they skipped their morning tea. What began as a twice-a-week affair soon turned into a daily routine for him. Once he was serving tea, an old woman walked up to him and asked, “Appa, nale nu bartiya alwa?” (You will come tomorrow, too, won’t you?). It was then that he decided to turn up every morning without fail.  Nanjamma, 55, is among the nearly 600 patients who eagerly wait for tea. She is looking out the window of the ward where she has been admitted for over two months now. Just then, a group of volunteers walks in with piping hot tea and biscuits in a tray. While adults are served tea, children in the Kapoor ward of the hospital are given badam milk.

The volunteers have formed a group called ‘Mission Chai’ on Facebook.

The volunteers take turns to make tea at home and serve it to patients.