The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
-Mahatma Gandhi
Dr. Uday Modi, a doctor, an actor, a philanthropist and a very humble human being who finds his happiness in giving service to the old people who do not have anyone to call their own or take care of them. He is a true mumbaikar who breathes happiness when he is serving the poor old homeless people. He started out Shravan Tiffin Seva as a small gesture for one of his patient who had suffered a paralytic stroke, her 78 year husband came asking for a meal one night because the couple had been abandoned by their three sons and they didn’t have any money or food. This was the moment of light when Dr. Uday Modi felt that there must be other such old parents who have been living in darkness and going to bed without food and his wife also resonated with this thought. How can a grown up individual, who has been born and brought up by such parents – leave them at such critical time and age when they are just as fragile as a small child!
After this incident, he and his benevolent wife started distributing templates that asked for such old abandoned couples who didn’t have anyone to call their own or take care. And from one tiffin it grew to eleven tiffins which Kalpana Modi, Dr. Uday Modi’s wife used to cook at home, and today after ___ years it has grown to almost 400 tiffins a month for all the old abandoned people who doesn’t have enough physical strength to earn money for buying food. There are customized tiffins for the diabetics as well with low-cal, low-sugar meals. Dr. Uday Modi makes sure to taste the food personally everyday before sending it out for distribution. Dr. Uday Modi not only feeds old couples, he also takes care of their illness and personal hygiene. “Shravan Tiffin Seva” – as the food distributing drive is called, is aptly named because Dr. Uday Modi indeed is the Shravan for all these abandoned oldies. He makes them happy, he feeds them, he distributes personal hygiene kits, medicines and most importantly he does all of these just as their own son.
To make sure he has enough funds to reach up to the demand of tiffins, Dr. Uday Modi also works as an actor to earn money for this noble cause during his free time.
Today his dream of having a 24/7 old age home that offers more then just a shelter to old people is about to take place. Dr. Uday Modi had a vision that he wanted to build a home for the abandoned old people that is just like their own son’s home, warm and comfortable with all the facilities. He wanted to build a nest that offers not only food and shelter but also yoga and exercising facilities, medical help and recreational activities. He even made sure to have their own cow shed to make sure the oldies in “Ma Baap Nu Mandir” get good quality and pure cow milk every day. Even their real son won’t have been so thoughtful about all these facilities!
