Kakinada: He is the saviour of the destitute who die a lonely death on the streets, unwept, and unsung. He attends to them with great love and performs their funeral rites without expecting anything in return.
After performing the funeral using his own resources, he buys 10-15 food packets and distributes them among them poor for the peace of the departed soul. When any unidentified body is found anywhere the police and locals immediately think of Kuper Bhanu Ambedkar.
K.B. Ambedkar is an ambulance driver in the Indian Red Cross Society, and gets a paltry salary. Earlier, he also worked part-time as an assistant in a mortuary in the Government General Hospital here. He was deeply moved by plight of those who die the death of an abandoned human being.
He felt an inner urge to help them die in dignity, and took up the mission of making the final journey of the destitute a decent and dignified one. In this effort, his family members especially his wife Lakshmi, works as servant maid, also supported him to the full.
“We give up a curry or sambar in our meals, on the day of a funeral and distribute food to the poor,” said Ambedkar. However, Ambedkar and his family members sometimes faced social stigma, when it became known that he was performing funeral ceremonies of orphans.
Some people believe the very sight of them is inauspicious. But that doesn't stop him from doing what he does. “I don't expect any help from society, not even respect or reward for the work I am doing. But it hurts when people avoid me,” he said.
The police also seek his help when then they find a decomposed body. Ambedkar says “It is our primary duty as a human being to attend to the dead people and make the journey to the other one a peaceful and dignified one. People should change their attitude.”
According to Hindu Smruthi, anyone who performs the obsequies of an orphan earns great merit (punyam). However, Ambedkar says he is not aware what is written in Smruthis and he says he is doing it as his duty for a fellow human being.
