Harakhchand Sawla can be seen taking a walk around the premises of Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) ina white kurta and pyjama, from afternoon till late evening, talking intently to those who are generally overlooked by passers-by, the cancer patients that camp outside TMH.

Around 12.30pm for lunch and 6.30pm for dinner, patients queue up outside his tiny office in a nearby chawl with plates and glasses, and are served hot meals – rice, chappatis and vegetables.

Sawla decided to leave his thriving business and began serving to cancer patients by adopting 25 of them, looking after their nutritional needs. Sawla now has a dedicated army of up to 150 volunteers who assist him. Sawla’s trust, Jeevan Jyot, also caters to the need for meals of 700-odd patients or their relatives at state-run hospitals – JJ, St George, Cama and TMH. The trust incurs a daily cost of Rs. 12,000 in feeding these patients.