Every morning outside Patna's PMCH hospital, a young man with a saffron cloth tied around his head walks through the gate carrying plates of food, calling out that patients and their families can eat as much as they want, completely free. That call reached Ramesh, a resident of Siwan, whose son is admitted to the hospital with a severe brain infection. Ramesh and his wife had not eaten a single morsel since the previous night. Sitting outside the emergency ward, worrying about how much the treatment would cost and whether his son would survive, Ramesh was breaking down inside when he heard that voice, and for him it felt like nothing less than a lifeline.
The moment a plate of kadhi, rice and chokha was placed in his hands at the gate, Ramesh broke into tears. He fell at the man's feet and, still crying, said his wife was inside, hungry, and that the guard would not let food through to her. The man helped Ramesh up, comforted him, fed him until he was full, and packed a separate meal for his wife as well. Ramesh is not alone in this. Many families at PMCH have already spent every rupee they had on treatment and medicines, leaving them unable to even afford two square meals a day. For families already drained by hospital bills, a free plate of food at the gate can be the difference between coping and collapsing.
Who is the man behind the saffron cloth
The man's name is Nikhil Kumar Sanu, founder of the Bihar Bhojan Daan Foundation. For the past two years, Nikhil has arrived at PMCH's Marine Drive gate every single day between 11 am and 11:30 am with free food. Food and water are loaded onto an e-rickshaw, and a banner travels with him that reads a full meal is available for one rupee. That one-rupee price exists only for people who are unwilling to accept the food entirely free of cost. The demand is such that hungry family members start lining up at the gate even before Nikhil arrives, waiting patiently for the e-rickshaw to show up.
The childhood hunger that changed everything
Nikhil's own journey to this point was far from easy. As a child, there was a stretch when he himself went hungry for entire meals. His grandmother had been hospitalised for close to two months, and around the same time his father's workplace was hit by a long strike. The family's entire savings were drained by the treatment, and the situation grew so dire that arranging even two meals a day became difficult. Nikhil and his sister would fight with each other over the bread and eggs that PMCH gave to the patient. It was during those hungry days that Nikhil made a promise to himself: the day his circumstances improved, he would feed hungry patients and their families at the hospital for free.
From two and a half kilos of rice to a full community kitchen
Once he grew up, Nikhil began keeping that childhood promise. The service began in the smallest possible way, with just two and a half kilograms of rice. In the first week, he would go to the hospital and feed people only once. Slowly, more people began joining the effort. Someone started contributing rice, someone else took on the cost of vegetables, and the circle kept widening. What started as a small effort built around two and a half kilograms of rice has today grown into a large community kitchen. Through the Bihar Bhojan Daan Foundation, many people now support the cause, and Nikhil ensures patients and their families get a full free meal every day, without fail.
Nikhil says the menu changes daily. Some days it is kadhi, rice and chokha, while on other days it is poori and sabzi served with jalebi. Many people also turn up carrying sweets or other food items to mark their birthdays or anniversaries, personally serving patients and their families with warmth and affection, treating the occasion as a way to give back rather than simply celebrate.
Feeding 250 to 300 people every single day
As soon as the food arrives, Nikhil says, he goes inside PMCH himself to call family members out for the meal. Everyone is served a full plate with complete dignity. Roughly 250 to 300 people eat here every single day, and several of them also pack food to carry back for patients admitted in the wards who cannot step out themselves. The service runs uninterrupted every day of the week except Wednesday.
The heartbreaking stories behind the queue
Nikhil says people in need travel here not just from within Bihar but from neighbouring states too. Most of these are families with no one to turn to in Patna, who have been undergoing prolonged treatment at PMCH. Some have arrived alone to get a spouse treated after a love marriage, receiving no support from their own families. Several young children spend entire nights wandering the hospital corridors with their fathers because their mothers are admitted in the wards, and when these children, hungry since the previous night, finally get a plate of food, the joy on their faces says everything words cannot.
Recalling one incident, Nikhil says a woman had gone without food for three straight days. On the fourth day, she reached the spot after asking around for directions from people. The way she ate made it obvious just how many days it had been since she had last had a full meal. Nikhil says most of the people who come here are those with a family member who has been hospitalised for a long stretch, leaving their finances completely wrecked by the cost of treatment. He points out that when the sole earning member of a family has been stuck in a hospital bed for months, it is not hard to imagine the state of that household. This small effort, he says, exists only for families like these, and for as long as there are hungry people at that gate, he intends to keep showing up with his e-rickshaw of food.
