At the start of the Lockdown, Pannaiyar Biriyani, a take-away restaurant in Coimbatore got calls from workers and students living in Mansions in the city to place orders for food, as they didn’t have much resource to make their own food, and all hotels had downed their shutters at that time as well.
During then the take-away restaurant prepared food and provided it to those who were hungry. While food was delivered, the wastages too had its part as the number of famished bellies were scattered. With the available cooking materials, the Pannaiyar Biriyani (PB) team cooked their food and took it also to the poor and migrant workers in Masakalipalayam and CODISSIA area by themselves.
As the Lockdown days lasted, some of the poor folks were still wandering to find food. While Jey Anand , one of the Directors of PB Team was out to deliver the food packets saw a migrant worker, he stopped to hand over a packet. Receiving the packet, the worker broke out into tears and said that he had not eaten anything for 3 days straight and thanked him for helping him.
Knowing that there will be more like this guy in Coimbatore and moved by the poor man’s gratitude, Anand headed back to the office and consulted with his Director and partners on whether they can scale-up food supply for the poor on a regular basis till the end of lockdown.
His like-minded partners and director gave the green-light and since then till now, every day 300 packs of hot and quality food is being prepared at Pannaiyar Biriyani’s centralized kitchen with a team of 14 members.
Like the partners, the cooks and staff at Pannaiyar Biriyani, who actually live in different places in and around Coimbatore have stayed at the office to take this as an opportunity to help the community.
Twice a day the food is made in the most hygienic and safest manner. They are taken to the hungry in CODISSIA and Nava India roads. Through the support of various NGOs, Pannaiyar Biriyani has found ways to feed the unfed. So far, 10,000 + food packs have been given and Anand says that with limited resources and the generosity of his warm-hearted partners, this humble initiative has been taken up.
The PB team consists of a young and spirited young team consisting of Jey Anand, Sriram Karthic and other enterprising partners and is guided by Dr.Nanda Gopal, who is the Director at XIME-Kochi. Anand said “it takes not just us but an entire team to have one thought and work in unison. We are really glad to have such a committed team with us and their contribution is equal in this effort”
The food is hot and the hearts are warm at Pannaiyar Biriyani to have risen to this occasion. Kudos to PB Team.