THE ART OF GIVING

Amit Sharma, who also runs a kitchen in the Saidham Mandir Premises and is the Founder of Sai Dham Mandir Foundation Trust in Gomtinagar, has been working tirelessly for the betterment of the society.

When it comes to the art of giving, the Sai Dham Mandir situated opposite to Hyatt Hotel in front of the Decathlon Sports showroom in posh Vibhuti Khand area of Gomti Nagar in Lucknow, has been playing an important role in contributing their bit towards the society for the last seven years.

Amit Sharma who runs a 'SaiRasoi' adjoining the Sai Dham temple has dedicated the Kitchen to Philanthropic causes and never charges a penny to the people who come to eat here. Those who come for a meal over here, in fact, can give whatever they want, because the proceeds are used for further 'good' works.

The causes that are being run under Sai Dham include providing education to the kids living in slums, training them in fields such as boxing, martial arts, organisation of ThursdayBhandaras and much more.

Amitabh Bachchan too visited here During the recent shoot of the film Gulao-Sitabo that took place in Lucknow, Amitabh Bachchan and his team used to come here regularly for lunch. They have been a fan of the food cooked by Amit Sharma, who with his daughter Payal and a bunch of staff members run the Sai Dham and its adjoining Kitchen.

" Amitabh was impressed with the special Rajma Chawal served by us and since then his crew was a regular visitor of our Kitchen at Sai Dham", says Amit Sharma, who without any ego can be seen cleaning the tables after the visitors finish their meals. He considers it as a part of his Sewa. " We give our services without expectations of any returns, and with God's grace, we have been getting more than expected and have been reinvesting it to give back to the society", Sharma adds.

Even bureaucrats of the city are devotees of Sainath Maharaj Ji and visit Sai-Mandir and enjoy food-the Prasad of Sai-Kitchen.

Divisional Commissioner Ranjan Kumar, Police Commissioner D.K.Thakur, DCP (North) Rajesh Srivastava. It is to be noted that KP Singh (ADM City) also celebrated his birthday on June 14 (Tuesday) at his place.

MLA of Malihabad constituency Jai Devi, who is also the wife of MP and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore, also distributed 'prasad' on the occasion of Bada Mangal at the Sai Dham Temple.

Daughter Payal feted with Nari Shakti Award

Not only Amit Sharma 55 Years of Age, but his daughter Payal too has been contributing her bit for the betterment of society. She is the sole force behind teaching the kids of mazdoors, rag-pickers and households working in the posh Gomti Nagar area of the city.

But there are other challenges that the father-daughter duo faces. The kids over here come for a 'Samosa' given as a return gift for coming to study. Some of their parents particularly women households are opposed to the idea of investing time in education.

" It is better than the girl accompany us and lessen our burden in the household chores of Sahibs--say the kaamwalis who send their children here", shares Amit about the ground reality and challenges that he faces.

Apart from the above, Sai Dham is known for its religious tolerance. Anyone from any religion can visit here as the temple that also signifies equality between all religions is open for all.

Other causes Not only this the trust has played an important role in the distribution of medical kits during emergencies and the de-addiction programmes and was a force to reckon with during the lockdowns imposed during the Covid-19 outbreak.