Narayanan Krishnan: Making A Difference One Spoon At A Time

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope… and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” — Robert F. Kennedy

Once upon a time, there was a young man with a vision – to spread joy to all these around him by creating delicious haute cuisines. He also dreamt of travelling the world, making a difference one spoon at a time. This story takes place in the magical world of India – in Madurai, which is a town in Tamil Nadu. India is a country, which is home to many different cultures and religions, and the place where this young man’s dream turned into reality. The nineteen-year-old young man left his home, with his degree in hand, and finally had the chance to live out his passion for food. With his dreams turning into reality, life was good; until the day, a single moment changed his life forever. As he was walking out of a hotel, he saw an old homeless man eating his own waste out of hunger. He went to the nearest restaurant to buy whatever was available to feed this person. Within seconds, this hunger stricken man washed down the hot food and looked up with gratitude at his hero. This is not a fairytale about doing the right thing. This is a story about an ordinary man with an extraordinary heart who set out to help his fellow man; proving the difference one person can make to another life.

Narayanan Krishnan was born in 1981 to a middle class family in Madurai, India. At the age of nineteen, with his degree in hand, he was selected to be a chef in a five star hotel in Switzerland. A single moment changed his life; seeing a man eat his own waste out of hunger. This made him realize how much we take for granted and how much we waste (even if it is un-intentional), he says, “Throwing parties at banquet halls to honour people. So much food is wasted. Hundreds of people will come, but only a handful will eat the food.” Narayanan quit his job as a chef to become a full-time social worker of sorts. He said, “Believe me; I had never seen a person eating so fast, ever. As he ate the food, his eyes were filled with tears. Those were the tears of happiness.”

It does not take long for your life to change directions; a single moment becomes the defining moment. I thought a lot about defining moments—what is it that makes us who we are? The type of role we see ourselves in this world. What moral code do we seek to live by, and do we indeed live by it, not just think about it. The idea of moments in time that have made you who you are thus far might strike some as impossible and others as frivolous. However, I gained a lot from this pondering. We all know what defining moments are—a chance, in one moment’s course of action, to show what beliefs you stand for—what values you cherish. Defining moments occur, but they are rare. And more often than not, they are a matter of hindsight. The truth of the matter is that personal definitions are built, not triggered. Defining moments are what bubble to the surface from deep within your core, but they play little part in building that core. They are what we experience, every once in a while, that expands a small part of our character into a momentous part.  For Narayanan, he set out to be a chef, but became a hero instead. He has spent ten years of his life, helping those the world has forgotten.

Volunteering or doing charity work, for most of us is seen as a resume builder – for Narayanan it is his life’s work. He quit his dream to be a chef for a much bigger dream – to make a difference. It was a little harder for Narayanan’s parents to understand completely his decision until the day he took his parents to show them what he was giving up his dream. A man on the street looked up at Narayanan’s parents and boldly said, “We are able to get three meals a day because of your son.” Touched by this man’s words, Narayanan told me that his mother said, to him, “My dear son, my dear son, you feed all these people, I will feed you ‘til I am alive.”
Altruism is not a word used very often in our society; give and take is more the common theme practiced. Many of the people Narayanan’s helped are mentally disabled therefore they lack the ability for a simple thank you, which by the way is not even on Krishnan’s priority list, he never stops and thinks what he wants or what benefit or exposure he gets by doing this. “We feed the homeless, mentally ill, destitute, and old people who are ignored by society. People are suffering without food to eat. If we do not give them food to eat, they will die out of human hunger. To serve such people keeps me going day in and day out. They should feel psychologically that they are also human beings and they deserve human care. The food gives them the physical nutrition, love, and affection shows the mental nutrition. The ultimate purpose of life is to give. Start giving and you will feel the joy of giving. This keeps me going.”

In 2003, Krishnan founded the Akshaya Trust, “I want to save my people and that is the purpose of my life.” Akshaya means, “never-ending” in Indian Sanskrit. That is exactly what Narayanan Krishnan and his team of volunteers provide for the homeless in India – never ending aid. Over nine years, Akshaya Trust has been able to serve almost 1.7 million hot meals to the elderly and the mentally disabled. In 2005, Narayanan also approached a team of barbers to help give haircuts to the homeless, but without any success, he took matters into his own hands, “I went to a hair cutting training school for six months and have done more than three to four thousand haircuts for people on the road.” Narayanan said, “I started with feeding one person and now we are feeding more than 450 people – three meals a day, non-stop without any break, come rain or shine.” These meals are prepared fresh everyday and are highly nutritious. In order to distribute the meals, they travel to great lengths, “We travel 35 miles for breakfast, 35 miles for lunch and 35 miles for dinner.” His day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team, roam in a donated van, in areas where temperature is as high as 38-40C. He finds the homeless poor souls under bridges, crannies between the city’s temples. Not only does he deliver, simple and tasty hot vegetarian meals, which he personally prepares, packs, but he himself feeds them too.

NK CNN Hero Award

“The panic, suffering of the human hunger is the driving force of me and my team members of Akshaya,” he said. “I get this energy from the people. The food, which I cook … the enjoyment, which they get, is the energy. I see the soul. I want to save my people.” In 2007, Narayanan noticed that there were mentally disabled women, who were being harassed on the streets by men, “They’d give birth to kids on the road. I wanted to have a solution for that.” This is where the idea of building a facility that could provide accommodations. With the help of a few corporate companies and by selling the land his grandparents had given to him, Narayanan says, “We were able to purchase land and register 3.2 acres of land in Madurai; we want to have eight blocks to build a home for these people. Each block is about 3,000 square feet. It will cost us close to $75,000 (equivalent to Rs 30 Lakhs) per block.”

In 2010, CNN bestowed the honour of being CNN’s top 10 heroes on Narayanan Krishnan for his hard work and endless dedication towards the helpless. Narayanan feels a deep gratitude towards CNN for the nomination as well as the exposure they were able to provide which has also helped with the construction of the rehabilitation home Akshaya Trust has been working towards building. Narayanan is touring the United States as we speak to bring awareness for his cause and to raise money for his charity. He is currently also working with the World Bank, where a few professionals heard about the change Narayanan and Akshaya Trust were dedicated in making. With the help of CNN, they have been able to raise money for this project, “Almost 70% of the construction work is done. We need about 25% more of support to finish the construction. We are in need of resources to finish the construction so we can house all these people, rehabilitate them and reunite them with their families.”  Here is a link to his charity for anyone who is interested to find out more – www.akshayatrust.org.

There are seven billion people in the world. Of those seven billion, 945 million people are living below the international poverty line. More astoundingly, one out of every seven people is hungry. The World Health Organization recognizes that in order to meet the standard of living it will take a financial obligation of $1.50 per person. This is accentuated by the fact that the world’s population is growing at a much faster rate, which also means that so is world hunger. There is clearly a huge disconnect between the rich and the poor – the richer get richer and the poor fall below the $1.50 per person line. Scarcity seems to be a common theme in India. Although India makes up one of the largest populations in the world, the lack of- everything has deteriorated the living standards for the general population. Rural Indians rely on agriculture to make their living and Urban Indians rely on the unreliable job market. According to the Economist, “As of 2010, more than 37% of India’s population of 1.35 billion still lives below the poverty line. More than 22% of the entire rural population and 15% of the urban population of India exists in this difficult physical and financial predicament.”

India houses a third of the world’s poor. According to World Bank, 42% of the Indian population lives below the poverty line. Yet, Indian weddings are the most lavish and talked about parties (mainly because people spend money as if it grows on trees). Let’s take British billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, for example, who spent $78 million (equivalent to 220 crores) on his daughter Vanisha’s wedding in 2004 at the Palace of Versailles. Delhi businessman and Congress MP, Kanwar Singh Tanwar spent 250 crores on his son’s wedding. If that was not enough, the groom received a helicopter as his wedding gift, as well as a replica of a private jet (because to be fair the real thing was waiting for him at the Delhi airport). A majority of the population in India is below starvation, yet the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawatti accessorizes himself in garlands made up of 1000 Rupee notes. On the other end of the spectrum, you have someone like Narayanan Krishnan, who came from a humble background himself, takes no salary from his charity for the time and endless effort he has put in. Narayanan states that, “We are also in need of resources to feed these people, which costs $4.50 every day. Twenty to twenty-two days we have resources and eight days we will have a gap. We fill this gap by taking credit from supplies to feed these people.”

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” How many of us have seen or even quoted those exact words before? (Whether that was a conceited comment to our parents, teachers, or in an entrance essay for graduate school.) How many of you have actually put these words into practice? (I know I haven’t). Every day we listen to the news, we hear about the devastating events that are happening around the world or even in our own backyard and we feel bad. We find someone or something else to blame; whether it’s the government, the system, corporations, the rich, the poor. Ironically, none of us turn to the person staring back at us in the mirror and blame him or her. As easy as it is to blame the world, it’s just as hard to take responsibility. “I don’t want to give him change because he’ll use it for drugs and I don’t want to contribute to that, I’d rather just buy him food,” is a common statement heard as you walk down Vancouver downtown on a busy night. A person going across the street to buy a pizza and giving that homeless person a slice; now that’s a rare occurrence. Luxury really is in the eye of the beholder. A warm cup of coffee or chai is a morning routine for most of us; for a person who spent night after freezing night on the street – that cup of coffee is a warm blanket (on a good day). Narayanan states, “There is no point in blaming the government as a whole. The government has their own policies, their own situations. I would like to ask the question that as an individual what you did. What is a government? Government is a structure of the common man. As an individual what impact have you created for society? You will see on the roadside, a BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, but on the same day you will see a homeless person. There is no bun, no burger for this person. You drive by in a Mercedes…but do you see the beggar on the sidewalk?”

What I got out of that is we have to accept individual responsibility and only then will there be a hope for change. Yes, there is a disconnect within the system; however, there is a bigger disconnect between mankind (humankind). Narayanan’s comment towards the welfare system is that, “We should have a centre for homeless people. Government is powerful; they have a lot of resources. However, I like to think of what I can do and I will do that to help.” The cycle of poverty has become inevitable in our society (partly because we choose to accept it). Developed countries promise equal opportunities and yet there is inequality in every which direction. Poverty is a part of life, an unfortunate part of civilization, however Narayanan states, “I choose not to tolerate a person having his own human waste for hunger.”
Before reading this article, how many of you knew of the man named Narayanan Krishnan? How many of you had heard of his charity Akshaya Trust? Now how many of you know who Pauly D is? Or that Beyonce’s pregnant? Or that Kim Kardashian’s tied the knot? As a society, it’s sad to admit that we probably know more about this handful of people, celebrities, and billionaires than we do of the work ordinary people like Narayanan Krishnan do to make our world a better place. As a society, we have misplaced our priorities considerably. We live in a time where competition to get ahead, putting our own benefits above mankind has become the norm. The younger generation grows up thinking, “I want to be rich like Bill Gates – I want to be famous like Kanye or Jay-Z, or Niki Minaj.” However, there is about less than a handful that will grow up thinking I want to follow in the footsteps of great leaders and pioneers such as Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bhagat Puran Singh, Anand Kumar, Mother Teresa, or Narayanan Krishnan. Gandhi died speaking the words “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Our society has turned those great words into the ticket to an excellent mark on an essay, a sure thing for a graduate school application or simply words with no true meaning.

During my interview with Narayanan Krishnan, I was reminded of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quote, “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You do not have to have a college degree to serve. You do not have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…. You do not have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” This led me to think further of what Narayanan had said during our interview, “There are people in this world suffering from poverty, and people are able to see that on a global vision. When you start helping your own people the problem will get solved. Please support any cause, in any part of the world that you feel is genuine. The world is full of light, but also full of materialistic things, brands – we should be aware of whatever we do. We have to help our brethren, we have to help our neighbour, and we have to help everyday to make the world a better place.”

This led me to position a question to myself and to you – our DARPAN readers – What have you done as an individual to make this a better place?

DARPAN Magazine is proud to announce that Narayanan Krishnan will be the Keynote Speaker for the 2011 DARPAN Magazine’s Extraordinary Achievement Awards Night. The foundation for the evening is to showcase the very best of our South Asian community, empowering others to succeed, and providing motivation to the community as a whole to prosper.

Narayanan Krishnan epitomizes this essence and we hope that his efforts help to inspire and mobilize other South Asians. “Action starts with the individual, and a bunch of small actions by one person can make a big impact. When you combine the actions of many passionate individuals working together the results can be monumental.”