“The NGO Padikattugal was started by youngsters and college lecturer in Madurai. However, once they got a job in Chennai, they opened a branch here as well and we have been involved in active volunteering since then. Our main goal is to help underprivileged people. From buying groceries for kids orphanages, to celebrating special occasions with them such as Diwali, Pongal, Christmas and Ramzan we have so many events planned with the single minded motive of offering service. Some of the other works include distributing food packets during lockdown and also helping daily wage workers with essential needs. However one of the iconic events of our NGO is taking the kids for Diwali shopping. We would arrange for transport and take the kids to malls and shopping plazas and let them pick their own clothes for Diwali. And on the day of the festival, we would take sweets and crackers and celebrate it with the kids. However due to the pandemic, we haven’t been able to take the kids to shops. So we got a list from the kids and based on each of their size, we got clothes for them as per their preferences. During Christmas, we used to take a wishlist from the kids and gift them. For Ramzan, we have taken the vessels there and cooked biriyani in their own place and celebrated with them as a family. This Diwali we are planning to gift clothes to 70+ HIV affected kids and we are currently in the process of raising funds for it. We are all privileged to some extent so we believe that each and everyone of us should pitch towards a cause and do our part, no matter how big or small.”