100 Feet Road, Ekkatuthangal: During the pandemic, hordes of people were suddenly reduced to a bare subsistence level, and the fortunes of the extremely unfortunate would have plummeted further.
Things they would have earlier thoughtlessly lumped together as essentials now needed to be segregated with care and some kicked upstairs to the luxury category and some others further up to the “prohibitive luxury” sphere. A fresh collection of dresses for the family could have been added to any of these two categories.
If one fast-forwarded to now, and paused at a pavement on Jawarharlal Nehru 100 Feet Road in Ekkatuthangal, they would come across the symbol of an exercise that sought to bring “fresh sartorial experiences” down to the essentials list during the pandemic. The initiative is still relevant. It is a shelf packed with dresses that the poor can take away for free. The community shelf had been put up by Ray Mart (a supermarket and textile showroom located nearby) in 2021 for people to place any cloth they want to give away, and for the needy to take any cloth they might want to have. At the time of clicking this picture, Satya was rummaging through the clothes to find the ones that would suit her child. And the child, Rajan had found a soft toy among the pile.
An employee of Ray Mart notes, “L. Rathnaraj, founder of Rays Group of Companies, initiated this intervention as part of his social service. Initially, we had to regulate this exericse; and now it is self-regulatory. People who want to donate clothes know the spot; and those who want to donate clothes know the spot; so do those who have need for a fresh set of clothes. From time to time, we also place clothes from our textile showroom that are damaged or are not moving.”
Published – March 24, 2025 07:19 am IST