Kochi: It is business as usual for Noushad, a street vendor in Kerala's Ernakulam district, a day after he was hailed as a hero on social media.
He rolled out the tarpaulin sheet on Broadway, the commercial hub in Kochi, on Monday and began selling clothes. Prior to it, he offered Eid Al Adha prayers at a city mosque. “I am not bothered about the stardom on social media. I am just a street vendor,” he told Onmanorama.
On Sunday, Noushad donated brand new clothes worth thousands of rupees to flood victims. His magnanimity came to light when the volunteers, who collected his donation, shot his video and posted it on social media. The video went viral, and people hailed Noushad as the 'real hero'.
“No one can take all this along when they pass away. I gain when I help the needy. This is how I choose to celebrate Eid,” Noushad reasoned as he packed clothes from his store in a sack.
“I am not billionaire, but it is my duty to help people in distress,” he said.
Noushad recently brought fresh clothes to his shop eyeing the Eid al-Adha sales before heavy rains wreaked havoc across the state. Over two lakh people have been moved to relief camps across Kerala and many of them lost all their life's earnings.
Noushad acted when he saw people's reluctance to contribute money and essential goods. “People's reluctance disturbed me. I saw volunteers trying to convince them to contribute clothes and essential food items. So I called the volunteers, led by actor Rajesh Sharma, to my place which I call 'warehouse'. They shot the video when I packed the clothes,” he said.
Noushad had contributed clothes when the Century's worst floods hit Kerala in 2018. “No one knew about my contribution at that time,” he said.
“All that I have is given by the Almighty. I am feeling happy," Noushad is heard saying in the video.
Noushad has been selling clothes at Broadway for many years. He is a member of a trade union too. However, he has not got the street vendor's license from the Kochi Corporation. “I have been promised the license many years ago, but I have not got it yet,” he said.
