Chitra Pournami, is a Tamil festival observed on the full moon day (Pournami) in the month of Chitirai (April/May) hence the name. The day is dedicated to Chitragupta, the official keeper of deeds in the abode of Yama, The Lord of Death. It is believed that bathing in holy rivers and temple ponds on the day will wash away the sins committed by one.
In Hinduism, Chitragupta, the first assistant of Lord Yama, is the one who keeps record of the good and bad deeds of human beings on earth. After death, when one reaches the abode of Yama, it is he who tallies the good and bad deeds and declares it to Yama (Judgement Day). Therefore, the day is dedicated to Chitragupta and devotees pray to him to forgive their sins.
In 2010, Chitra Pournami falls on the 28th of April (Wednesday). Therefore, it was time for Youth Cares annual food donation.This year, Youth Cares took a very bold move and decided to target 1000 people for the food donation. At first we were a little skeptical of reaching our target and risked having leftover as it was a WORKING DAY. A working day naturally means a smaller crowd.
Still we stuck by our target and went ahead with the plans. Eventhough, it was a working day many of our donors managed to take off from work to help Youth Cares out. (For those who didn’t make it, we understand that you need to work. So that can donate more to Youth Cares! *wink*)
We gathered at the Youth Park carpark area around 10am. I was very happy to see many of them were very punctual for the event. At around 10.30am, the guys from Vision Tents arrived to put up the tent for us. Come to think of it, thank god we put up tents to shade us from the scorching sun and later the heavy rain. The food was expected to make it’s grand entrance at 11-ish.
We gathered at the Youth Park carpark area around 10am. I was very happy to see many of them were very punctual for the event. At around 10.30am, the guys from Vision Tents arrived to put up the tent for us. Come to think of it, thank god we put up tents to shade us from the scorching sun and later the heavy rain. The food was expected to make it’s grand entrance at 11-ish.
Setting up the tent
At 11.10 am, the food finally arrived. Should the food arrive any later, I would have gotten a mild heart attack. The menu of the day was Briyani Rice, Vegetarian kurma, Cabbage stir fried, Mango chutney and Ms.Kala’s Taukua Sambal!
The grand entrance!!
Even before we managed to unload the food from the caterer’s truck, there was a line forming in the front of the tent. That is when I knew, there will be no leftovers.
After unloading the food, all I remember was someone telling me to serve the food. After an hour or so, we were all done and ready to wrap up. The best part of the day was when Mr.Vig said ‘Sorry, we are all out of rice!’. Can you imagine that? We managed to serve 1000 people.hurray!!!
I know I saw one or two people who came back for second serving. There was also this lady: she said someone called her up and asked her to take food from us because it was simply DELICIOUS!
After all was said and done, the day ended on a high note.
A very personal THANK YOU to:
- All who donated for this event
- Susmeatha Catering
- Prakash&Maleni for the tent
- Gopal for the foam boxes
- Kala for her taukua sambal
We manage to feed a baby too!!
The eco friendly foam boxed used.
To the uninvited guest, Mr Long, thank you for visiting!
Till next year!Report by,
Swarna ‘n’ TEAM
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