An angel on earth for departed souls

An angel on earth for departed souls
JS Shunty
Tall, handsome, 42-year old Jitendra Singh Shunty started his career as a transporter but an inner call changed his life completely. Today he is engaged in humanitarian efforts to serve the mankind.
On his transformation he elaborates, " I have seen want and poverty which compelled me to leave my established business. One day I saw a man stealing wood from a burning pyre at Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat cremation ground. It was a great shock for me. I confronted him. Weeping uncontrollably, he told me that he had lost his wife in an accident and he did not have enough money to perform her last rites". I was stunned. I never knew this could happen in our society. Later, I came to know that there were people who often left dead bodies unattended".
The incident changed Shunty's life. He helped the man perform the cremation and decided that he just could not go back home and forget every thing. With two of his friends he formed the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal in 1997. Ever since the moment Shunty or his team get any information about unclaimed bodies through the police, friends or residents' welfare associations, they reach the spot immediately and arrange the funeral.
Many of suicide victims' bodies, which nobody wants to claim, are given a burial or cremation by the Sewa Dal. Says C. Samuel, president of the East Delhi Malayalee association, " Six bodies were taken by Sewa Dal because their families could not reach Delhi even after eight days. They always help in times of crises."
With dedicated workers, radio-fitted, hi-tech vans, the Sewa Dal team ferries the body to a crematorium or burial ground or a churchyard, according to the known faith of the deceased and performs the rites.
In recognition of the Sewa Dal's yeoman service to mankind, chief minister of Delhi donated four hearse vans in the year 2003. The number of vans has now gone up to 12.
Apart from this, Shunty and his Sewa Dal members have donated more than 3,000 units of blood to the needy. They have organized numerous blood donation camps, led by Shunty himself. Seventeen members of the Sewa Dal are trained to administer drugs to tuberculosis patients, and nearly 300 patients have benefited from their services. Nearly 3,000 people have gained from the numerous free medical help camps organized by the Dal. Shunty remarks wistfully, "At times, I am a son to the dead father or mother whom I never knew; at other times, I become the father to a dead son or daughter seen for the first and the last time at the funeral ground".
"In my little capacity I am always ready to extend a helping hand to restore self-respect to the poor. To help the physically challenged, many a times we provide crutches, tricycles and sewing machines" he says humbly.
Such remarkable services to mankind have focused attention of the national and international media on Shunty. Recently a documentary titled Angels For The Dead based on the life of Jitendra Singh Shunty and his style of paying homage to every departed soul received great media appreciation. Later, this documentary film won a gold medal in the Joy Film Festival 2007 held in Florida, USA.
Closer home, Shunty had won the councillor's election from Jhilmil ward of East Delhi during the last election as an independent candidate.