Under a black cloud of the Corona epidemic, when human survival is in question, the cry of hunger of the animals trapped in the thorny alleys of Dhaka city comes to the ears of a kindhearted one. What will the birds eat during this recession, what will the street dogs and cats eat? They are also hungry, they can’t say. So this person started taking food for them by making rules every day. Her name is Asma Akter Liza.
On a day when such a rule is made, a sound comes to her ears when she goes to decorate the dinner table birds. Someone is breaking something somewhere. Exactly so, two children are starving. They are trying to break the lock of one of the food stalls in search of food. Suddenly a realization echoes, ‘In this situation, how come I have not thought about people?’ Her heart twisted with such regret. Turns out all her thoughts and consciousness, today’s Mehmankhana begins.
From that time on, she started fighting for what she can put in the mouth of others. It wasn’t easy to organize so many things alone. She was submerged in debt gradually. On the other hand, the pale faces of helpless people do not allow Liza to sleep. Day by day the branches of the tree of kindness have grown. A swarm of young souls comes forward. Without self-interest, everyone shared the work together. Some cut the spices, some mash, some others carry the pots for cooking. The purpose is one, the fire must be burnt in the stove, not in the human stomach.
Everything is locked in lockdown day after day during this pandemic. So can the stomach door be closed? When the time comes to eat, it wants food. To whom will the low-income helpless people tell about this suffering? That’s why everyone is invited to this guest house, Mehmankhana. They are the daily guests here. Such an initiative is really hopeful at the juncture of humanity. This effort to share food with everyone in times of global crisis is commendable.
As the day progressed, so did the number of guests in the inn. The initiative, which started from one deck, has now reached four decks. As a result, costs have risen. New challenges have come. But hospitality does not stop there. People from different walks of life are joining this procession of human development in groups. They are devoting themselves to this great work of service by keeping their name secret. Although some people are not able to afford it, this dream boat is being carried forward by working hard. This is like ‘Noah’s new ark’. He has taken the helm irrespective of caste, rich and poor, religion and caste. In this self-centred Kali Yuga, such an attempt to present the ideals of Satya Yuga is beyond appreciation.
Asma Akhtar Liza, the initiator of this great initiative, was asked, ‘Will the kind program be institutionalized?’ She spontaneously replied, ‘If you are talking about a commercial institution, my answer is, never. But we have the plan to register this as an NGO in order to run a charitable organization smoothly and provide proper guidance to the staff involved and at the same time, avoid various bureaucratic complications. It is important to register so that our transparency is not questioned in the near future and that we have the correct explanation in the form of documents. ‘
Born out of the idea of feeding starving animals, this initiative is satisfying the hunger of thousands of hungry people today. This initiative is still Dhaka-centric. There is a plan to have a platoon of volunteer hungry soldiers in every district of Bangladesh. Although such initiatives were seen from time to time, their roar was much more than rain. But Mehmankhana is an exception. Its main strength is its non-publicity. All the propaganda work is just to convey the message to the hungry. Even the donor group of this organization is doing humanitarian work on its own initiative.
Obstacles have come again and again. Ever run out of logistics, run out of money. But the guesthouse did not stop. The main driving force of the youth is not rust on the wheels of materialism. There are no reputable craftsmen or skilled chefs, and no waiters to serve. But the thing that has never been lacking is vitality. Along with the dedicated old volunteers, new ones are being added every day. The only purpose is to dedicate oneself to human service shoulder to shoulder. It has been a long time since these volunteers have given food to the starving. They may not have a place to put their heads together, but it does not ebb with enthusiasm in relentless working. This is like the ‘Kiskinda army’ in the conquest of Lanka.
The entrepreneur was further asked, ‘How are your accounts kept?’ Her straightforward answer was, ‘Nothing is under lock and key here. We have left our income open. When necessary, our staff collects, stores, manages and distributes them on their own initiative. Everyone is equal here. There is no complication regarding rank. When service is the main, interest there is wasted. There is no need to build any infrastructure yet, but if this kind of program is converted into an NGO, it can be considered in the interest of the management.
Mehmankhana is working with utmost devotion, overcoming all social, economic, environmental and positional obstacles. They are handing out two handfuls of food to some of the country’s starving people who have stopped at this moment of global catastrophe. Let this initiative spread to all corners of the country, which started from Lalmatia D-Block.
