Corrine Rasquinha: The Singer Who Built Mangaluru a Home for the Forgotten

Seven o'clock, every evening

At 7 pm, food cooked at the White Doves kitchen is packed and loaded into a vehicle, and a team sets out to feed people on Mangaluru's streets.

It began with 20 food packets. By 2019, the same evening round was reaching 175 to 200 people a day.

That nightly habit is the best short description of White Doves, and of the woman who started it.

A musician's idea

Corrine Rasquinha is a singer, a songwriter and a musician. When she set out to help patients lying uncared for in the city's government hospitals, Wenlock and Lady Goschen, she did not begin with a donor list. She began with a band.

She brought together like-minded singers and musicians and raised money through performances, then spent it on free medicines, students' education and homes for people who had none. The effort began in the early 1990s, and the White Doves trust was registered in 2001.

The music never stopped. The White Doves choir has performed over 370 shows around Mangaluru in the run-up to Christmas, often from the back of a truck, with a new theme every year. In 2015 the group staged a Kannada play on the life of Jesus, Antyadinda Aaramba, with over 125 actors, directed by Corrine and free for the public.

It only needs hard work and diligence." Corrine Rasquinha, on reuniting a woman with her family after 15 years

From borrowed rooms to a home of its own

For years, White Doves ran its homes for destitute and mentally ill people from temporary premises on free lease, at Matadakani and Jail Road.

Land was the sticking point. After her search for a plot failed, Corrine approached the Bishop of Mangaluru, who gave 49 cents at Maroli. The foundation stone was laid on 2 February 2016, and the 200-bed White Doves Psychiatric Nursing and Destitute Home, built at a cost of Rs 8 crore, opened on 17 February 2019 at Niddel, Gokarna Road, Maroli, Kulshekar.

By that autumn, the community there, including men, women, hostel children and staff, numbered around 250. White Doves also runs a children's home at Kulshekar, which looked after 41 children's education and well-being at the time of the opening.

White Doves, Milestones

Finding the way back home

A destitute home is, at its best, a way station. Much of White Doves' work is the slower job of tracing families.

The team has reunited people with relatives across India. A woman from Tamil Nadu saw her children after 14 years, with Corrine encouraging a visiting volunteer to speak to her in Tamil to find leads. A man from Chhattisgarh was found at a bus stand in Pandeshwar with no memory of his home, and went back to his brother's family after 14 years. A woman who went missing in 2009 was reunited with her family after 15 years, and, in a report from 2024, White Doves said it had reunited around 450 people with their families.

Local students have helped too, taking a resident's photograph to crowded places in Hubli until villagers recognised him.

Privacy note This profile does not name the people in White Doves' care. Reunion stories are summarised without identifying details.

The lockdown months

When the Covid lockdown began in 2020, White Doves went out. Corrine and her team served cooked food to over 1,700 destitute people and migrants, at places including Rosario Church Hall, Milagres College and Attavar government school. By early July, the total had passed 70,000 meals. The Bishop of Mangaluru joined the team in distributing food kits.

Recognition

Honours Received by Corrine Rasquinha

When the new home opened in 2019, then-MLA U T Khader said the Rasquinha couple had done wonders in taking care of destitute and mentally ill people, and MLA Vedavyas Kamath called her a role model.

What it takes, and how to help

White Doves runs on private donors and the income from its choir. To learn more or to offer support, contact the home at Door No. 5-79/20, Niddel Gokarna Road, Maroli, Kulshekar, Mangaluru 575005, or visit whitedoves.in.

For the woman who started with 20 food packets, the work has not changed: at 7 pm, someone goes out to feed the city's hungry.

Read Next on Mangalore Diary

1. Shiny Asma Saldanha: The Karkala Girl Who Became Udupi District's First Woman Commercial Pilot
2. The Mukka Scientist Turning Waste Heat Into Electricity
3. Why Mangalore Became India's Unlikely Medical Hub
4. Migration Stories: How Goan Catholics, Konkani Merchants, Kerala Neighbours and Other Newcomers Shaped Mangaluru
5. People of Mangalore: Culture, Languages, Communities and Festivals

FAQ

1. Who is Corrine Rasquinha?

Corrine Antoinette Rasquinha is the founder-president of White Doves, a Mangaluru trust that runs a home for destitute and mentally ill people, a children's home and a daily evening street-feeding round. She is also a singer, songwriter and musician.

2. What is White Doves?

A charitable trust in Mangaluru, registered in 2001 after work that began in the early 1990s. It runs the 200-bed White Doves Psychiatric Nursing and Destitute Home at Maroli, Kulshekar, which opened on 17 February 2019, and a children's home.

3. Did Corrine Rasquinha win the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award?

She was selected for the 2025 Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in the field of social work, announced on 30 October 2025, along with Dr N Sitaram Shetty of Udupi district.

4. How did White Doves start?

Corrine brought together singers and musicians to raise money through performances, and used it to buy free medicines for patients uncared for in government hospitals, support students and help homeless people.

5. How many people has White Doves reunited with their families?

A 2024 report put the number at around 450. Earlier reports gave other figures at other dates, so treat the number as time-stamped.

6. How can I help or contact White Doves?

Write to or visit the home at Door No. 5-79/20, Niddel Gokarna Road, Maroli, Kulshekar, Mangaluru 575005, or see whitedoves.in.