<p>Men or women, they just have to reach the place, cook their own food and eat to their heart’s content. Everything is for free and the only question they may have to answer is if they are hungry or not. <br /><br />Started by forty-eight-year-old Dr Surya Prakash Vinjamuri, ‘Open House’, located in SBI colony of Kothapet, allows the homeless and visitors to the city to cook their own food. <br />Visitors are given vessels, rice, cooking oil and LPG gas to make their own meal, while vegetables that come as donations are given only between 11:00 am and 8 pm. <br /><br />Dr Surya Prakash, a medical doctor from Osmania University who also has a Masters in health administration from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), launched the NGO in June 15, 2006. It shifted premises for three years before the doctor and his wife had the 1800 sq ft place of their own in April 2010. <br /><br />“Now I have a resident boy- Karthik, who maintains the place “, says Dr Prakash. Used by sweepers to security guards, the place has been particularly helpful for poor students who come to Hyderabad to pursue short term courses or those coming to the city to attend competitive examinations. So far, it has fed nearly 20,000 people. <br /><br />“We receive nearly 50 to 60 people a day. The number is higher during competitive exams, when some of them also stay here,” Karthik said. Dr Kameswari, who has been an able support for her husband, said the idea of ‘Open House’ is to encourage the sense of sharing.</p>
<p>Men or women, they just have to reach the place, cook their own food and eat to their heart’s content. Everything is for free and the only question they may have to answer is if they are hungry or not. <br /><br />Started by forty-eight-year-old Dr Surya Prakash Vinjamuri, ‘Open House’, located in SBI colony of Kothapet, allows the homeless and visitors to the city to cook their own food. <br />Visitors are given vessels, rice, cooking oil and LPG gas to make their own meal, while vegetables that come as donations are given only between 11:00 am and 8 pm. <br /><br />Dr Surya Prakash, a medical doctor from Osmania University who also has a Masters in health administration from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), launched the NGO in June 15, 2006. It shifted premises for three years before the doctor and his wife had the 1800 sq ft place of their own in April 2010. <br /><br />“Now I have a resident boy- Karthik, who maintains the place “, says Dr Prakash. Used by sweepers to security guards, the place has been particularly helpful for poor students who come to Hyderabad to pursue short term courses or those coming to the city to attend competitive examinations. So far, it has fed nearly 20,000 people. <br /><br />“We receive nearly 50 to 60 people a day. The number is higher during competitive exams, when some of them also stay here,” Karthik said. Dr Kameswari, who has been an able support for her husband, said the idea of ‘Open House’ is to encourage the sense of sharing.</p>
