On Mother's Day Anand Mahindra gifts house to Idli Amma

Story by  ATV | Posted by  shaista fatima • 1 Years ago
Anand Mahindra (L), Idli Amma entering her new house(R)
Anand Mahindra (L), Idli Amma entering her new house(R)

 

New Delhi

On the occassion of Mother's Day, Anand Mahindra, the business tycoon and philanthropist fullfilled his promise and gifted a revamped house to the famous Idli Amma of Tamilnadu.He took to his twitter handle to inform his fanfam and also congratulate his diligent team.

Almost two years after this Tamil Nadu woman fondly called Idli Amma won over the internet for serving idlis at low cost to daily wage workers, Anand Mahindra fulfilled his promise to support and “invest” in her venture.

idli amma

Screenshot from the videos as shared by Anand Mahindra on his Twitter handle

Kamalathal hails from Coimbatore and went viral in 2019 for cooking and selling idlis for just Re 1. She's been doing this from last three decades. However, she wasn’t concerned about making profits and extended her services keeping in mind those in need.

Her thoughtful gesture had moved the Chairman of Mahindra Group at the time, and he had shared her video to help her in any way possible for her great contribution to society. After knowing that her priority was a new home cum workspace, Mahindra’s companies rallied their forces by helping register land in her name. “Only rarely does one get to play a small part in someone’s inspiring story, and I would like to thank Kamalathal, better known as Idli Amma, for letting us play a small part in hers,” Mahindra wrote online while making the announcement.

“Grateful to the Registration Office at Thondamuthur for helping us achieve our 1st milestone by speedily registering the land,” the businessman wrote on Twitter while sharing images of the elderly woman along with officials.

He also informed that the company’s real estate and infrastructure wing would build the customised home-cum-shop “as per Kamalathal’s requirement”. He thanked local LPG provider for their constant supply of gas to the woman to run her business.

Twitterati has went gala over the gesture of the philanthropist. Many went and shared their thoughts via memes and some even with words.

For the unversed, back in 2019, when the woman’s story first went viral, Mahindra had stepped forward to arrange a LPG connection for her to run her idli shop. She had been using a wood-burning stove. People on social media loved Mahindra’s gesture and lauded him for keeping his promise even though a long time had passed.

idli amma cooks

Idli amma serving idli and chutney

On learning about her story, Anand Mahindra posted a clip of The News Minute‘s coverage of the woman’s story on Twitter in September 2019. He had tweeted, “One of those humbling stories that make you wonder if everything you do is even a fraction as impactful as the work of people like Kamalathal. I notice she still uses a wood-burning stove. If anyone knows her I’d be happy to ‘invest’ in her business & buy her an LPG fuelled stove.”

In the video shared by Anand Mahindra, a man named Senthil could be heard as saying, “If you go to the neighbouring village, one dosa is ₹20 and Idli is ₹6. But here people eat it for just ₹1. They come from 2 km away and if they buy idlis worth ₹30, three people can eat. Lot of people come here, eat well and wish her the best.” “And whether they give money or not, she accepts it. There are people who eat for ₹10 and there are others who eat 10 idlis but give ₹5. But as long as she is alive, a lot of people will eat well. “ M Kamalathal had informed that she earlier used to sell idlis for 50 paise but had to increase the price to ₹1 due to an increase in the price of ingredients. Also known as Idli Amma, the elderly woman had expressed her desire to expand her kitchen.

“Mr Pugal from Mahindra came to my hut. It was too congested. I requested him for a new house for me. He promised to check and get back to me,” M Kamalathal had informed. 

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