Not everyone will understand the burning pangs of hunger. But those who do will never forget those either.
“You can understand whether the person was really hungry when tears start rolling from his or her eyes after the first two or three morsels. And we get to see that quite often,” says Surya Prakash Vinjamuri, an allopathic doctor who quit not just his profession, but a convenient way of life as well to come up with ideas to help humans, and be human.
He has tried out different things, concepts in his words, right from selling bananas on a ‘Banana Cart’ which was a solace for many on the streets, to dancing and many more experiments. But one concept that has proved its worth over the years, and is still running, has been ‘Andari Illu’, a house for all, and popular in Hyderabad as the Open House in Kothapet.
Into its 12th year, the Open House is where the doors are closed only to hunger, but open to everyone else. Round the clock… well, almost.
“The police have asked us to keep the door closed from 1 am to 5.30 am, since this is in a residential colony. For social order,” laughs Dr. Surya Prakash.
The Open House runs on some simple rules. Come, cook, eat, and go. Stay if you want. No questions asked. There are no bills. The rice will be there in the kitchen. So will be a few vegetables, oil, a gas stove, and water.
From students who do not have money to pay mess fees, to job seekers who cannot afford a meal, to those who have been roaming on the streets without food for days, to even those who run roadside eateries but want to save whatever little they can by saving on their own food expenses – the Open House is for them all.
What about those who do not know to cook? “We have seen one guy, who was jobless, coming here. For the first couple of times, there were others who helped him by cooking for him. He slowly learned, and now runs a catering service. People have undergone transformation when there is a hand to help without questions or conditions attached,” says the doctor, who along with his wife SVV Kameswari, also an allopathic doctor, runs the house, with a clinic on the first floor.
There has been no promotional campaign on social media, neither has there been any fund collection drive.
“What we earn, or rather, what my wife earns from the clinic, sustains us and the Open House,” says Dr. Surya Prakash, adding that there have been a few good souls who sometimes donate things for the house, from a bag of rice to chairs. Again, there are no questions asked if someone else wants to take those away for themselves.
“When you are accepted as you are, that makes a big difference. Hunger has no religion, so there is a homely atmosphere for everyone who comes here,” he says.
There are also roadside book vendors, mostly women, who cannot afford the rent to keep their books in the night and so come to the Open House. There are also domestic violence victims who seek shelter, or a meal. There are also people who come, just have a bath, rest for some time, and leave. There have been people on the verge of suicide because they were feeling lonely, who have come here, shared or cooked a meal, and slowly went back to live.
There are also some like Venkat, who runs a small roadside eatery near Nagole. The earnings are little, so he cooks and eats at the Open House.
“I can save that little amount and send it home to my parents,” he says.
“It is that kind of help to people that makes our concept worthwhile,” smiles Dr. Surya Prakash, adding that about 40 to 50 people come and go every day, while on weekends and during festivals, the numbers are much higher when people from other districts to come in.
There are a few who stay in the house for a few days as well.
“They have to inform us. If they haven’t informed us, we are not responsible for them,” he says, adding that the Open House now has books also, kept for students to read, apart from clothes donated by others for those who need them.
From security guards to students who reach the city for competitive exams and even attendants of patients in hospitals, the people who have left Open House with a full stomach and happy heart are its testimony.
Food as medicine
The Open House has not been the only unique concept the doctor couple of Surya Prakash Vinjamuri and SVV Kameswari are experimenting with.
Dr. Kameswari has successfully been carrying forward her ‘Food as Medicine’ concept for those who have been battling infertility.
“We shunned our traditional foods long ago. Rice became a staple, millet took a backseat,” the couple says, stressing that you are what you eat.
Pointing out that there are at least 500 different varieties of leafy vegetables in Telangana, the couple is trying to revive the food culture of yore that kept women hale and hearty.
A diet-based treatment, with natural foods forming the menu, forms the crux of her treatment. For hormonal imbalances or a few similar issues, there are specific inputs of medicines, but there is no dumping of medicines, she says, adding that the success rate of those who followed the ‘Food as Medicine’ concept has been quite encouraging.
