Nepali unable to attend mother's funeral, cooks food for hungry

New Delhi: A native of Nepal's Kanchanpur district has not been able to attend his mother's funeral back home due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus scare, but has put aside his personal loss to prepare food for the hungry at a community kitchen.

Jai Bahadur was working at the restaurant in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar for over 25 years before he was left stuck in the national capital. He lost his mother five days ago and could not attend the cremation, but even his personal loss did not break his resolve to serve food to the needy.

"I came to know about the death of my mother on April 14 morning from my sister and brother-in-law. I wanted to attend her funeral, as we three brothers were away from home, but couldn't," a teary-eyed Jai todld IANS.

The BJP's 'seva' kitchen, where he has been working since the lockdown, tried to arrange for his travel to Nepal but he could not get the permission, he said.

"As there was no means to return to my village, I could only watch the funeral rituals through a video call on WhatsApp," Jai said.

"I did not do any work at the kitchen on April 14, but from the vey next day I made myself available to serve the people in need."

Jai Bahadur's elder brother resides in Mumbai whereas his younger brother is in Malaysia.

He said that the ashes of his mother were kept at his village home and once the lockdown is lifted he and his brothers plan to immerse these in the river Ganga in Haridwar.

Jai Bahadur said he had been working for the last 25 days to prepare food in the 'seva' kitchen operated by BJP good governance cell under Virender Sachdeva, Rajiv Kohli and Vijendra Dhama that is serving food to 1,500 to 2,000 people daily since March 24.Union Minister Arjun Munda, BJP national vice presidents Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Dushyant Gautam and others have participated in preparing the food at the kitchen in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar.

Gautam, who visited the kitchen on Sunday, consoled Jai Bahadur and appreciated his work of serving humanity. His family, including his late mother, must be proud of his commitment towards humanity, he said.