Hunger has no religion according to Azhar Maqsusi. Yes, the humble man has been serving food for about 150-200 people every day under a bridge in Hyderabad. It’s because of people like him, humanity is still alive.
Hyderabad-based Syed Osman Azhar Maqsusi’s free food camps serve hot and delicious food to the poor and needy daily. A lot of credit goes to him and his team.
Azhar, who saw many poor and destitute people in and around Malakpet station and Chanchalguda were going hungry day by day, set up his daily food camp under Chanchalguda flyover almost 6 years ago. It all started when he came across Lakshmi, a physically handicapped woman begging near the railway station.
In an interview to Deccan Chronicle, he said,
“My father died when I was very young and my mother raised all of us with great difficulty. I know what it is to sleep hungry.”
Third among four siblings in his family, he had dropped out of school when he was in Class V itself. He then started working as a labourer. “We used to live in my grandfather’s house. He also had a big family to look after. We used to get food once a day and sometimes even that was not available,” he added.
“Lakshmi was crying due to hunger. I arranged food for her and decided to do everything within my limited means to remove the hunger of as many people as possible,” Azhar recalled.
Azhar’s biggest ever inspiration in his life is his mother. She struggled to bring them up, and Azhar strongly believes that almighty Allah is arranging food for the hungry and the needy through him.
First, he started on a small scale, his wife used to cook the food at home and then he used to take it to the flyover and serve those who needed it. Then, he decided to set up the cooking unit under the flyover to save on transportation costs.
What started “with 30-35 people and today more than 150-200 people are provided food in Hyderabad,” said Azhar, who currently runs the Sani Welfare Foundation and has even hired two cooks.
Every day at 12.30 pm, Azhar starts serving hot rice and dal where the Beggars, labourers, and ragpickers line up with their plates to get a delicious meal.
Azhar operates a plaster-of-Paris unit near Dabeerpura, spending quite a few hours every morning and evening there.
“The rest of the time I spend in arranging food at both the places,” he explained. Seeing his unflinching dedication, people, including his brother, his cousin and a couple of volunteers on weekends, also line up to help. Azhar, however, does not collect funds.
While speaking to National Herald India, Azhar said he is ready to accept donations only in the form of rice and dal. “If people come with donations in the form of rice and dal, I accept it. I don’t accept cash unless the donor is not in a position to bring rice or dal.”
Azhar now too serves people food at Dabeerpura flyover in the old city. He also works at Gandhi Hospital, the biggest government-run facility in Secunderabad, and he transports food in a van for about 150-200 people every day. The foundation has tied up with NGOs to run daily food programmes in Bengaluru, Raichur, Tandur, and Guwahati.