Adebola Alabi
Narayanan Krishnan is an Indian chef whose life’s story epitomizes the true meaning of giving. He was a rising award-winning chef with a five star hotel group in Bangalore, India. Narayanan was short-listed for an elite job in Switzerland, he decided to pay a quick visit to his hometown in Madurai in order to bid his family goodbye before embarking on his trip to Europe. However, the visit to his hometown would forever change the course of his life.
According to Krishnan “I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food”. It really hurt me so much he said. Most people will be broken by this episode, but they will soon move on with their lives, without doing anything about the occurrence. That is not Krishnan, he did something about it. His life story totally resonate with the saying “be the change you want to see in the world”. On seeing this old man, he immediately went to a nearby hotel and bought food for the old man. He was so moved by this event that he gave up his prestigious job offer in Switzerland to stay back home to feed the hungry and take care of the homeless.
He decided to take it upon himself to care for the destitute and those on the street that could not take care of themselves. He will prepares and serves nutritious meal for them, feed and bath them just to restore dignity to them. According to him, we are all human and we all have blood flowing in our veins. He went to a barbing school for six month so that he can cut and shave these people. He devoted his life to helping the helpless, and he offered them his hand to hold so that they can get back on their feet. Starting in 2002 with his personal savings, Krishnan fed around thirty people, and he delivers hot meals to nearly 400 people each day. By 2003, he began serving freshly-cooked meals, and has since delivered over 1.7 million meals as of August 2011. He and his team wakes up as early as 4 am to get the food ready, and they go around occasionally in temperature over 100 degree Fahrenheit to provide food for the hungry people in his hometown. They sacrificed their comfort for the welfare of the less privileged.
Narayanan Krishnan is a very humble man, with a mission to bring a little comfort to people who simply struggle to survive. He is an inspiration to many, and has impacted a lot of life through his generosity and his desire to make a difference. He was recognized as one of the World’s Top Ten Heroes of 2010 by CNN in the USA.
I believe Krishnan’s life can serve as motivation for all of us. There are couple of lessons that we can all learn from him.
- Be a change driver: Many people complain when things are not going right around them, but they hardly do anything about it. You have the power to make a change and influence others positively. You can inspire change by taking the first step and not wait for someone else to take the lead.
- Your life is a gift: There are two ways to see life. It is a gift for you to enjoy, and the other way is to see it as a gift to give to others. You can start today by reaching out to those around you who need your help. You may need to make some sacrifice just to help lift someone up out of their difficulties. You do not necessarily have to quit your job like Krishnan did, but you can start investing your time to help the helpless. It may be as simple as taking time to listen and offer solution to those around you. Your life is a gift, you it wisely.
