Kerala Floods: Kochi textile trader donates all amidst shortage of relief material

Amidst these trying times in Kerala and in the rest of the country, a small-time textile trader in Kochi has donated all the dress materials he had purchased for Eid sales to those affected by the floods in Wayanad.

A relief worker had requested for donation for those affected by the floods in Wayanad. They told him that a truck with goods was being sent to Nilambur in Wayanad. Then, he took them to his small textile shop where he began packing all the clothes for those in the camps.

“These are clothes I bought recently for Eid. These are all new clothes and none of them are old. We will not give old clothes to those stuck in camps. If I can’t do so much, what am I doing? Business and profits are not everything. It is our duty to help those in distress. That is the spirit of Eid,” explains Naushad.

When those who had approached him for relief materials pointed out he was giving away too many of the clothes he had purchased for his shop, Naushad assured them that he had no issues in giving away all of it. “Isn’t this how Eid is supposed to be celebrated? Shouldn’t we share with those who are in distress,” underscored the man who sells textiles on the footpath in Broadway in Ernakulam.

“Let those who need wear these clothes,” pointed out Noushad. He gave almost 10 sacks of clothes to volunteers, representing various agencies engaged in social work. Malayalam actor Rajesh Sharma was one of those who had gone for the collection of relief materials and he had put it shared the video on social media.

This act of Naushad has garnered him many well-wishers and his caricatures have begun to the rounds in Kerala.

This is not the first time he has donated clothes for those affected by the flood. He had donated last year too.

Unlike last year, this year there has been a shortage of relief material and the state hasn’t been receiving much help. More than two lakh people in Kerala have been moved to more than 1,600 relief camps in the state. Districts in north Kerala such as Wayanad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kasaragod and Kannur have been facing the fury of rains and landslides.

Though there has been a participation of the local youth in the relief camps, people haven’t been donating as much as last year. Several districts have reopened their collection centres so that people can donate clothes, rice, biscuits and drinking water. In several districts, people have begun door-to-door collection to overcome this problem.

On the Kerala government’s website ‘Kerala Rescue’, the state has put out a list of essential goods required in each district to tide over this crisis.