Grocery store owner spends Rs 50,000 every month on feeding strays

Govind Patel with some of the strays he feeds

For the past seven to eight years, a grocery store owner has been spending over Rs 50,000 every month, on feeding stray dogs and cats in Charkop and Kandivli. Govind Patel, 63, who now feeds them thrice a day, began feeding them years ago after he attended a satsang by Murari Bapu that changed his life.

Satsang changed him

Patel, who hailed from a poor family, attended the satsang when he was a young man, in his village. "Bapu said that walking on the straight path gives happiness, while walking on the wrong path will give you sadness. He also said if you become rich, donate and help the poor, and the needy and if you are unable to do so, at least keep remembering God," recalled Patel. He then quit smoking and drinking and decided to follow Bapu's advice further by writing the name of Lord Ram on a page every day in a book.

Govind Patel

More profit, more feed

In 1982 he came to Mumbai. After working as a plumber, he managed to rent a shop where he sold groceries. He would sleep at nights outside the shop on a footpath. He then began to feed the strays animals around. As he started to make a profit in his business, he spent more on feeding the strays.

He did so well that he soon bought another shop and today owns two grocery stores and one electronics store that his son manages. Patel said, "Initially, when I didn't do so well I fed them once a day. Now I feed them thrice a day. Every day I feed milk and biscuits to stray dogs and cats on the roads in Kandivli and Charkop. I spend around Rs 2,000 per day on milk. The more God blesses me, the more I help them. My children also help me."

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