Feeding the under privileged during lockdown

A clown who used to make people laugh with his funny acts and entertaining tricks now fails to bring a smile for his starving family.

Md. Nasim, 22, from Begusarai, Bihar was working in a Meena Theater in Saharsa as a clown to earn his livelihood. He used to travel with his group in different districts for his performance.

The circus is a dying art in India, which is close to extinction. Now hardly 10 registered circuses are available in the country struggling for its existence. The situation of its artists is very miserable due to the low level of interest among people. The arrival of Televisions and mobiles has changed people’s interest and the lockdown has put the last nail on their coffin.

Circus owners want to give up their circus due to high operational cost and no earning. The artists have dedicated their lives to the circus and for most of them, this is the only work they know.

Nasim lost his job and now facing several challenges to fulfil his family’s daily need. His differently-abled wife manages the household chores but there is no money to run the house. He managed for a few days with the help of the community, but the struggle continues.

The lockdown is uplifted with certain restrictions, but the Circus is still not opened due to its nature of the operation. He also could not avail the ration under PDS due to unavailability of ration card. The family is struggling to arrange his food.

Caritas India with the support of her partner MDSSS, Muzaffarpur came to the rescue of Nasim and helped them with the food supplies. Zomato Feeding India joined with Caritas India to support the less privileged families in Sihma panchayat of Chhourahi block of Begusarai District during this Covid-19 pandemic. The family was provided dry ration kit having 10 kg wheat flour,1 lit mustard oil &1 kg Salt which can last for 15 days.

Md. Nasim says, “We did not get any help from the Government, but you helped us, I will pray to God to provide more resources to you, so you continue to support more vulnerable families”.

The collaborative initiative of Caritas India and Zomato Feeding India has helped 10,150 underprivileged families with food kits across different parts of the country.