S. Vidyakar : Social Worker

Now, the phones never stop ringing. Messages filter in, informing Vidyakar or hisvolunteers about unclaimed infants or sick people dying in anonymity. And the ambulance,kept on a 24-hour alert, comes like a life-giving force to scores who otherwise hope fornothing better than a quick death. The ambit of the mission widened with AIDS. SaysVidyakar: "I never thought of taking on HIV cases. But we couldn’t ignore thatcall from a government hospital—they had some women who they were not keen toadmit." Currently, Vidyakar has under his care as many as 32 HIV cases.

The low-profile Vidyakar runs his organisation on public charity. He refuses funds fromGovernment and foreign aid agencies, convinced that such assistance comes with"strings attached". With limited wherewithal, he treats his task as a challenge.But at the end of every tiring day spent educating the children under his care, he isinspired by a sense of continuity. For, Vidyakar knows he is one of them: a kindlygentleman, finding him wandering the streets of Madras as a little boy, had made theoriginal gesture.