On the auspicious day of Fulpatee, the Bhawanipur ashram begins serving cancer patients and their families travelling to Kolkata's hospitals — the third Hamro Chhahari ashram in India.
On the day of Fulpatee, the seventh day of Dasain 2023, the third Hamro Chhahari ashram opened its doors in Bhawanipur, Kolkata. The inauguration was marked by traditional rites, a community feast, and the welcoming of the very first patient family the same evening.
Kolkata's premier cancer hospitals — Tata Medical Center, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute and Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre — draw patients from across eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal. For the Nepali-speaking community in particular, finding affordable lodging close to treatment has long been a struggle.
The Bhawanipur ashram closes that gap. With clean rooms, a shared kitchen and volunteers who speak the language of home, the shelter offers more than a bed — it offers a corner of familiarity in an unfamiliar city.
With Mumbai, Siliguri and now Kolkata, Hamro Chhahari forms a triangle of support across the country — a network knit together by the same simple promise made in 2019: no patient should suffer alone, far from home.
