He Defended India at Kargil. Now He Defends Those Who Have No One Left

For seventeen years, Kisan Mallari Lokhande wore the uniform of the Indian Army. He stood with his fellow soldiers during the Kargil War, living by the values every soldier carries for life: discipline, courage, and the promise to put others before yourself.

Then life changed. Both his parents fell gravely ill at the same time, and Kisan took early retirement to be by their side. But his parents had one request of their son. Leaving the Army, they told him, did not mean he was done serving. There were still people in this country who needed protecting: the poor, the elderly, the ones with no one to call their own.

Kisan took those words as his next mission. In 2006, he founded Maratha Life Foundation in Palghar, Maharashtra.

A home for those the world forgot

Today, more than 220 people live at the foundation's ashram. Elderly men and women found wandering alone. Children with no parents. People who have been missing from their families for years. And alongside them, animals who were hurt or abandoned.

Most arrive through the police. When officers find someone who is lost, ill, or has nowhere to go, they call Kisan. He brings them in, gets them medical treatment, gives them a clean bed and warm meals, and lets them recover in safety. Then, working with the police, he tries to find their families. Over the years, Maratha Life Foundation has reunited hundreds of people with loved ones who thought they were gone forever.

But not everyone has a family to return to. Some residents have now lived at the ashram for ten or twelve years. For them, this isn't a shelter. It's home, and Kisan and his team are the only family they have.

The man everyone gave up on

A few years ago, Kisan's team found an elderly man who had been living near a bus stand for years. His leg had gangrene. He was severely malnourished and couldn't keep down food or water.

Kisan took him from hospital to hospital. Each one said the same thing: he won't survive. Kisan refused to accept that. He kept searching until one hospital agreed to treat him. When the man needed blood, Kisan and his son donated their own.

The man lost his leg, but he survived. Today, he works alongside the foundation, helping others the way he was once helped.

That is what the right care can do. And that is what Kisan does, every single day.

Why he needs you now

Maratha Life Foundation has no steady source of income. There are no regular donors to count on, which means every month begins with the same worry: will there be enough?

Enough rice, dal, and vegetables to feed over 220 people. Enough soap, sanitary supplies, and clean clothes. Enough medicine for elderly residents managing chronic illness, and for new arrivals who come in sick and injured.

Beyond the daily needs, the ashram urgently needs better facilities: proper rooms and a dining hall where residents can eat together with dignity. And it needs an ambulance. When someone's health takes a sudden turn, the difference between a quick hospital trip and a long wait for transport can be the difference between life and death.

Your contribution goes directly toward groceries and nutritious daily meals, hygiene essentials and clothing, medicines and medical treatment, construction materials for rooms and a dining hall, and an ambulance for emergency care.

Stand with a soldier one more time

Kisan spent his youth protecting this nation. He has spent the two decades since protecting its most vulnerable people, the ones no one else came for.

He has never asked for recognition. Today, he's asking for help.

Your donation, big or small, means a meal on a plate, medicine in someone's hand, and a safe roof over a head that had none. Stand behind this soldier's mission. Donate today.