It was just two years ago that Ranjan Varghese, a native of Thrissur in Kerala, could fully grasp the essence of his father's final will. 'Keep whatever is essential for you to live. Share the rest with deprived people'—this was what Ranjan's father B.C. Varghese, general secretary of the early Praja Socialist Party noted in the will he left behind for his children before he died at the age of 57. Ranjan, Varghese's fourth son, has now taken it upon himself to fulfill his father's desire.
Ranjan's mission will benefit 16 homeless families as he donates 72 cents of land, worth Rs 2.5 crore, that he had purchased near Kochi 12 years ago. He has already registered the plot in the names of these families. While taking on this noble cause, Ranjan made sure it benefited those who were truly in need. And that is why, he selected financially backward families of widows and divorcees who had to fend for their young children. Our Lady's Girls Higher Secondary School in Thoppumpady in Kochi, will help build houses for their families, under the school's social welfare project House Challenge.
A mechanical engineer by profession, Ranjan worked in Kuwait for 14 years. After returning to Kerala, he served as the director of a food processing firm, before moving on to start a stock exchange consultancy firm. In 2008, when he decided to retire, he sold off the company which by then had 25 branches across the country. It is with this money that he purchased the land that will now house 16 financially backward families. Last year, when he decided to donate the land, his friends helped him find six families who were in need of homes. He found the rest of the families with the help of volunteers of the House Challenge project at the Our Lady's Girls HSS. The project is part of 'Nalla Paadam', Malayala Manorama's social welfare project in schools. Six of the families who will benefit from this scheme are those of students of the school. Modelled like a housing colony, the plot will also include a medical facility for heart patients from financially backward families. The space will also include a small area that can be used for cultivation or any other public purposes.
-with inputs from Manorama
