Hyderabadis #StandWithKerala; donate food, water, medicines

The rain has relented; the water levels are receding and Kerala, which has been battered by the worst floods the state has seen in over a century, is slowly picking up the pieces and limping back. But it will be a while before everything is back to normal in God’s Own Country. And this fact is not lost on Hyderabadis. City folk from all walks of life, across all age groups, have been coming out in large numbers, to prove that yes, we are with Kerala.

Hyderabadi Malayalis join hands to become one formidable force
On Sunday, all roads in Secunderabad led to Ravindra Bharathi where The Kerala Association of Hyderabad organised a camp to collect materials for immediate relief. Dressed in traditional kasavu sarees, women folk were engaged in collection, sorting and labelling boxes with a smile on their faces. “It’s Onam season right now, but our hearts are too heavy to celebrate this year. Instead, we want to dedicate time and resources to do whatever we can for our friends and families back home,” said a volunteer, who wished to remain unnamed. Children, men folk, young and old — everyone spent their Sunday collecting relief material. And Hyderabadis didn’t disappoint them. Coming out in large numbers, with food, medicines, household items, they ensured they showed their support.

Volunteers, NGOs work round the clock
Several such relief collection centres have been set up across the city by various volunteers and NGOs. Anbodu Kochi, a Kochi-based NGO that was formed in the wake of the Chennai floods in 2015, regrouped again, with volunteers setting up collection centres in Miyapur, Banjara Hills, EFLU, TISS, and UoH among others. Anbodu Kochi sent their first lot of supplies via flight on Sunday. Nivin, a volunteer, says, “We had arranged trucks, but they said they couldn’t take off until Wednesday. Luckily, Indigo collaborated with us and agreed to take it on Sunday itself. We will be sending stuff every day at 6 pm till all the material reaches Kerala.”Goonj, another NGO based in Hyderabad and Bangalore, have opened up their centres for flood relief supplies. Lamakaan, the city’s much loved cultural space, also set up a Kerala relief aid collection drive that saw academicians and activists make their contributions.

Hyderabad techies drum up support
Tech City is doing all it can for Kerala, both officially and unofficially. “Our company has tied up with Goonj, and every employee has been following the list they sent out with details about the most needed items. Hyderabad has a large IT community and if everyone pitches in we can make a significant contribution,” says Anil, a techie from Virtusa, Gachibowli. “We’re planning to send one truck filled with relief materials every week. We are also teaming up with Malayali associations in Hyderabad to take things forward,” says an employee of Next Education in Banjara Hills. Meanwhile, others are using the power of Whatsapp groups to drum up support. “We made sure that social media posts about
Hyderabad collection centres were circulated in groups within our organisation. We also got our colleagues to donate to the CMDRF,” says Vigil Venugopal from Amazon.

City’s student community goes all out to chip in for Kerala
the students of Osmania University are doing their bit by foregoing a day’s meal and donating that ration to the victims of floods. UoH meanwhile has an entire army of student volunteers who’ve been actively involved in relief work. They’re battling many odds like lack of funds, transportation woes et al. “We had a whole shipment of rice, pulses and oil ready to be sent to relief camps in Wayanad via Bangalore. But it took us an entire day to arrange transportation. Nobody was willing to go because of the road blocks. But thankfully, our first load of supplies reached Wayanad on Monday,” says Roshna Arafa Ali, a student.
“We went to places like Tolichowki, Attapur, Tarnaka, and to the malls nearby to request for funds. We collected about Rs 20,000 in cash,” says Shrujita, a student of TISS. Greeshma Prakash, of EFLU, says that ensuring quality of the relief material collected is an added task: “Some people have been donating expired products, old clothes etc. So we have to watch out for such things and avoid dispatching them.”