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.
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.
“I saw a very old man. He must be somewhere around 75 to eighty years old. He was having his own human waste for hunger. I was shocked and freezed for a second. What is happening? What is this guy doing?”
“That night I thought what am I doing? I am selling a plate of fried rice for ten dollars in my star hotel where people come and have food for fantasy, fun, joy and recreation not for hunger. I know they eat only half portion of it and leave half in the plate. It was a spark, a very powerful spark which I had”.
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Much to the dismay of his parents, 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.
