Tirunelveli man sells masks to help group of puppetry artists

MADURAI: Just like the barber in Madurai, yet another individual in south Tamil Nadu is helping people who have been worst-affected by the lockdown. Meet P Pappuraj, a social activist in Tirunelveli district, who sold masks to help a group of leather puppetry artists, who were running short of food.
The 45-year-old activist is a native of Veeravanallur. He recently identified 25 families, who were into leather puppetry, in distress as they were running out of essentials during the lockdown.
The group of artists stayed at Kongathanparai village.Prior to the lockdown, they exhibited shows to earn a living.
Pappuraj, a photographer by profession, did not have enough resources to help the artists. However, he decided to earn more money by selling masks to purchase essentials for them.
He purchased masks at Rs 5 per piece from prison bazaar and sold them at bus terminals and roads. He asked all his customers to make a small contribution to help the artists.
In a week, Pappuraj managed to raise Rs 6,000. His friends, who owned shops in Tirunelveli city, also decided to pitch in. Irudhaya Selvam contributed Rs 20, 000 and another friend Sanjay Gunasingh gave Rs 8,000.
Pappuraj said, “We purchased 13 kg of rice, 22 varieties of groceries, vegetables and distributed it to the artisans. They thanked us a lot and said that this would help them for another 20 days.”
The photographer had earlier contributed during disasters like Gujarat earthquake, 2004 tsunami and the recent Gaja cyclone. To earn that extra money, Pappuraj took up activities like cleaning footwear and vehicles at petrol bunks.