Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama: Charity and Hospitality have been part of our culture and living, from time immemorial. Our sastras prescribe charitable deeds without much fan-fare and publicity. As is the practice from the past several years, Srimaan Trust quietly reached out to the poor and needy of our society, ahead of Deepavali, to bring some joy and festivity in their lives. On 15th October, our Trust volunteers, along with our Chief Guest, Sri. Subbaraman, CEO Frontline Hospitals, Trichy, set out the meet and greet the over 50 families of visually-challenged, living in a colony about 20 km from Srirangam - our first stop. The second rendezvous was at a destitutes' home close by, where about 50 individuals are cared for. As we left Srirangam at about 11:30am, our volunteers had to be "squeezed inside" our van - which was packed with boxes of sweets-n-savories, sarees for the women folks, shirt+pant-pieces for men/boys and churidars and frocks for the girls ! The famous philanthropist Dorothy Day once said "The best things to do with the best things in life, is to give them away". Our own Upanishads caution us that only the Best quality things should be given away in charity. The sweets we carried were home-made, of high quality material, in hygienic kitchens, by expert cooks, hired specially for this purpose. Volunteers and donors, shopped at some of the most reputed shops to pick the dress material. Others helped in packing these well so we deliver them in good condition. As one could guess, a lot of "Love and Dedication" had been invested in the preceding weeks to ensure that these gifts will Light-up each one of the recipients! We reached the colony just after noon and were welcomed by the leader of their Association, Sri.Vellaipandi and his daughter Rosie. They had their scroll of names ready and the men and women quickly lined up to receive their gifts as their names were called out. While describing the attributes of a pious charitable act our scriptures highlight "Bahumaanam=respect" and "Priyamvacha=pleasing words". It is our great fortune that our Chief Guest epitomised these twin-virtues. As each person came forth to receive their little-packet, Sri.Subburaman, our Chief-Guest, inquired them of their well being, had warm words for the elderly, a pat on the back for the little ones, a word of advice for the youth ! To each one of them, Sri.Subburaman, gifted his warmth, Love and Deepavali wishes, along with the dress and sweets. The whole place lit-up with Happiness and Joy and as we prepared to leave, many of them came up to bless Srimaan Trust, its Founder and volunteers and requested that this practice continue for years to come. Our next stop was at Kirush Kakkum Karangal, a few kilometers away. The proceedings here started with a word of introduction by the founder of the orphanage, Sri. Kannan, followed by an address by our Chief-Guest. Suffice to say, the story was repeated here, as with our earlier stop. As we stood up to leave, all the inmates poured out their blessings and good-wishes, requesting us to come back time and again. The Joy of these lesser-privileged-people made our day ! The Divya-Dampathis have once again blessed Srimaan Trust through its Donors, Volunteers and Well-wishers, to make a difference by its Service to Society.