Shrishti Kumari was pleasantly surprised on Saturday when the staff at a relief centre where she and her family members are living for the past few weeks asked her to come to the dining hall at an "odd" time. The surprise was waiting on a table with all her family members in attendance -- a birthday cake for the 5th standard student who was upset that she could not celebrate her 11th birthday in her house among her friends.
The cake was arranged by the staff of the Greater Chennai Corporation's Community Centre, now turned into a relief shelter for migrant workers and those stranded due to COVID-19 lockdown, who came to know Saturday was Shrishti Kumar's birthday. In the company of those manning the relief centre and her family members, the little girl cut her birthday cake and gave the first slice to her grandfather.
The simple gesture of making the inmates of the relief centre happy in times of gloom by the GCC staff has won over the internet. The pictures of the simple birthday celebration posted by Alby John, Regional Deputy Commissioner, South Zone, GGC, has gone viral on Twitter with many sharing them on various other social media platforms.
Hailing from Bihar's capital Patna, Kumari and her family had come to Tamil Nadu on March 15 for a temple tour and were to take a train from Chennai on March 23. After visiting temples in Tirupati, Kanyakumari and Rameswaram, the group of 97 people came back to Chennai on March 21 and are stranded here since then. With trains being cancelled and hotels also closing, over 20 people of the group sought refuge in the relief centre.
"I was upset that I could not celebrate my 11th birthday among my friends in our house. But the birthday celebrations in Chennai was a surprise. This was a new kind of experience and I feel happy cutting the cake," Kumari told DH. With the quintessential childish innocence, Kumari adds, "Though the cake was nice, I missed home food on my birthday. My mother makes special food every birthday. I missed it this year."
Ajay Kumar Gupta, one of the organisers of the tour, told DH that the arrangements at the relief centre were good and they are satisfied with the efforts taken to keep them happy during the lockdown period. "Most of us are diabetic and we are being provided with the food that we need. We feel blessed because some of the members of our group are still lodged in hotels and are complaining that they do not get food. We are happy we get everything on time," he said.
An official attached with the relief center says the occupants are provided with breakfast, lunch, dinner and tea and snacks twice in the day, besides staff helping them to buy medicines as most of them take tablets regularly.
John, the Coroporation official, told DH the decision to celebrate the birthday was taken by the local staff. "It was a nice gesture from the staff. The idea is that when all of them are going through hardships, there should be an occasion to smile. The birthday was one such occasion and we are happy the staff took the decision to celebrate and made the girl and her family happy," he said.
Meghanath Reddy, Deputy Commissioner(Revenue&Finance), GCC, wrote on Twitter: "They are not just stranded ppl. They are not just inmates at our Relief Centres. They are one among us. @chennaicorp staff celebrating birthday of a young girl at one of our Relief Centres. Heartening to see this."