Auction at ‘Festival of Harvest’ kindles endearing moments

A lamp that was auctioned for ₹2.5 lakh and a bunch of mangoes purchased for ₹55,000 were among interesting bids that helped mobilise ₹50 lakh a day to support the opening of two palliative clinics in city

The annual harvest fest hosted by the St. George Orthodox Cathedral church at Bilathikulam in the city on Sunday witnessed many endearing moments as the people who turned up for the ritualistic public auction offered unimaginable bid prices to support the church’s charity plans.

There were Persian cats, top-breed puppies, and home-made food curries to pep up the ritualistic celebration that lasted for about eight hours from the morning.

“We couldn’t even believe that the total collection touched ₹50 lakh by 6.30 p.m. The highest contribution was from a magnanimous man who offered ₹2.5 lakh for a traditional lamp that could have been purchased by him from elsewhere for just ₹2,000,” said Kuriakose Abraham, the parish priest who coordinated the event. Our intention behind such a fest was to mobilise funds for opening two palliative care units in the city apart from building houses for four poor families, he told The Hindu.

The auction kindled moments of laughter and amusement with the zeal of people to quote the highest price possible for even cheap items. A bunch of mangoes was purchased by a doctor paying ₹55,000 for the charity cause. Similarly, home-grown bananas brought by the parishioners were auctioned for above ₹1,000. It was Vineeth M. Kuruvila, one of the parishioners, who accepted the first product from Fr. Abraham to begin with the event.

“Since it was hosted in an urban area, the products brought by the parishioners too were all quite different and interesting. Like us, many churches celebrated the festival of harvest with various programmes on Sunday,” said Fr. Abraham. He said the event was a huge success with the full-time participation of charity-minded individuals comprising leading professionals and businessmen.