Food and sarees for the poor to celebrate Deepavali

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THERE is a legend of a woman who was so generous she gave away food to the poor all the time but little did she know her generosity would bear only little fruit in heaven.

When she died and went to heaven she realised she did not have a stitch of cloth on her and asked God to give her clothes to cover herself.

Instead God gave her sweets and food to fill her stomach. The woman protested and begged for a cloth at least but God asked her, “When you gave away food did you think about clothes for those people?”

This story lingers in the mind of Devika Rani Yadav, the president of the Cultural and Education Committee (CEC) of Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Jalan Ipoh, till today.

“My mother told me this story and I can never forget it. Now whenever we donate food and rations we give out blankets or clothes as well,” said Devaka.

Timely aid: The temple devotees (second row) and the recipients of the Deepavali aid at the presentation ceremony at the Shree Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Jalan Ipoh

Devaka and her committee members gave out food and sarees to 50 poor people, including families from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

Recently, Devaka and the chairman of the social welfare sub-committee, Bimla Rani visited 24 homes of poor families in Seri Murni flats in Sungai Long, Kajang.

They were given 10kg of rice, 5kg cooking oil, salt, sugar, biscuits flour and other items for Deepavali.

“Apart from that we are also giving out hampers with cordial, Deepavali snacks and towels as well as RM50 for expenses,” said Bimla.

Each child in the family was given RM5 as well as a goodie bag with sweets and chocolates

As the committee could not visit all the other recipients from KL, the rest were invited to the temple on Oct 10 to receive their gifts.

The gifts were handed out to the recipients after a short prayer by the temple priest, Pandit Dinesh Semalty Shastri.

According to Dinesh, the real meaning of Deepavali is to light the lamps in the homes of others as well.

“In those days, people would light the streets as well help strangers find their way to the village. It is all about sharing the happiness with others,” he said.

Dinesh added that people should share the things that had been given or bestowed upon them by God regardless of race or religion.

Anamah Narayana, 78, from Setapak Jaya was all smiles when she received her goodies.

The single woman, who lives on her own in a low-cost flat, said the food could last several days.

“I depend on money from the church to pay pay my bills so this is a welcome relief for me,” said the toothless grandmother.

According to her, she has been receiving the aid for two years now and is grateful that the devotees spend the time to help the poor.