Ganesan Parasu Raman, 60, and Chellamma, 56, distribute milk to poor children in Hyderabad

Braving the early morning chill, a long line of slum dwellers, comprising mainly children, queue up outside the residence of the Ramans on the outskirts of Hyderabad. As the clock strikes six, the gates open to allow them to get their free cup of milk, sometimes even two or three! Ganesan Parasu Raman and his wife Chellamma have been distributing milk to the poor since 1999. It started when Chellamma’s mother was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and advised to drink unadulterated cow’s milk. “It was difficult getting pure cow’s milk in the city,” says 60 year-old Raman, a mechanical engineer-turned-entrepreneur. So the couple bought a cow and the surplus milk was given away to an orphanage. “The thought that undernourished children could benefit from it gave us happiness,” he says. Over time, the couple moved into a house with a lot of open space on the outskirts of the city to accommodate more cows that they bought. Today, they have 35 cows at their cowshed next to Kapra Lake, and 20 more at Ramalingampally, 29 km away. And Chellamma has given each cow a name. “They are all my babies; they yearn for affection just like children,” says the 56 year-old. Though the couple has employed four boys to take care of the cows, Chellamma herself cooks kanjee (thin rice gruel) for the ageing cows. “I can’t just turn them out to die on the streets or be killed for meat,” she says. The couple distributes almost 30 litre of milk daily. They also run an organic product line—Swarnganga Herbal and Cow Products—which includes creams, soaps and tea lights made from ghee, and pesticides from cow urine and cow dung. Maintaining a huge cowshed, however, doesn’t come cheap—they need a minimum of ₹ 125,000 per month just to take care of the cows. However, while the extended family has been pushing them to sell milk to tide over the cash crunch, they continue to veto the suggestion. “How can I ask a poor child for money for milk?” asks Raman. “My wife and I are now addicted to this chain of service—right from looking after the cows to distributing free milk—and it gives us happiness and a purpose in life.”

—Shyamola Khanna

Photograph by Shyamola Khanna
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
December 2016