Akshaya Patra Foundation : Fighting the Hunger!

Years back, I was travelling with my friends in Marudhar Express. At Agra, a young boy, aged around 12-14 years boarded the train selling some small soft toys. Out of some curiosity, we started talking to him, enquiring about his family, study and all. When we reached the question of schooling, he smiled and replied, “bhaiya khane ko to milta nhi, padhai kahan se karein?” (Don’t have sufficient to eat, who cares about study?). That answer and that very peculiar smile touched our heart.

Many seasons came and go after that incident. Now I have started earning, and started trying at least on my part to help the needy. But, the connection of food and education wasn’t that much clear to me, until I heard Sadhguru’s words, “What Nation we can envisaged in future, if our present is unable to get healthy food!” We, Indians, are Young with the median age of just 22. In few years, we’ll be younger than Chinese population. But, how will we produce a healthy and efficient population if we’ll not be able to provide healthy food to our children.

Mid Day Meal (MDM) program has been implemented in different states of India under different names and with different objectives too. National MDM program came in existence after 2001 when Supreme Court of India made it mandatory for all the state governments to provide cooked meals instead of dry rations in schools. A number of NGOs too are involved in this noble cause all over India. Different studies have shown that MDM Scheme has several benefits like:

1. Increased enrolment of children at the elementary level, especially girls,

2. Improved quality of education and also health of students, besides helping the families to tide ones the problems of hunger and malnutrition

Swami Prabhupada

3. Increased attendance in rural areas than urban areas

Studies have also shown that NGOs have performed better than Government run programs, without compromising with degradation in quality of education.

One of such MDM program is run by The Akshaya Patra Foundation, established by Swami Prabhupada, and endorsed and cared by philanthropists from all over World. The Foundation was established on day when Swami Prabhupada saw some children fighting with street dogs for waste food. Agitated, he took a promise that, “No one within a ten mile radius of our center should go hungry.” The inspiration led to Akshaya Patra with a vision “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger”, which is now feeding 1,254,698 children every day and the numbers are still not exhaustive. (More…)

Akshayapatra (अक्षयपात्र) was a vessel provided to Yudhishthira by God Surya (Sun); with an inexhaustible vessel supply of food for the Pandavas while their exile in the forest (More…). Wish the Foundation be graced with such an inexhaustible pot!

I would like to thanks the Akshaya Patra Foundation and Indieblogger for providing this opportunity to Blog and Feed 50 Children. What an easy way to be a part of such a gracious cause! Isn’t it!

It would be great if every reader of this post can contribute to this noble act, by donating or even by just blogging about it….

(P.S.: Follow Akshaya Patra on Facebook, Twitter and via their newsletter)

Banned Indian Books

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth... Few days back when I came to know about a book on an Indian Business Barron on the Banned Indian Books’ List, the first thing that came in my mind were the lines from Tagore . What an irony, we live in a country, whose forefathers have dreamt about a nation without fear, about a nation with right to speech, right to knowledge; and where the Government enjoys the “privilege” to “freely” ban the books, censor what it feels offensive! Wikipedia describes Banned books as the books whose free access is not permitted. Further it says that the practice of banning books is just another form of censorship, and often has political, religious or moral motivations. In our country, banning books have got its history since the British rule days. In fact, few of the Books

Trekking Ghansoli Gawli Dev (Parsik) Hill

It’s been there for geological ages, we have been looking at it for last about 4years and I have been planning to trek it since a long time. Finally, few weeks back, we trekked the Ghansoli Hill. Ghansoli Hill is located at the eastern boundary of Ghansoli town, behind our office complex at RCP. The hill or better hillock is a part of small range that separates Kalyan and Navi Mumbai towns. A search on Google Map returns with a name Parsik Hill for it, though there is one more rather famous Parsik Hill in Navi Mumbai. We also found a NewsArticle , that talks about NMMC plans to develop Nature Awareness Centre at this hills and calls it Gawli Dev Hill. Here, we would be calling it Ghansoli Hill . I asked my colleague about it and he readily agreed. The very next Sunday we did it with another friend. We weren't aware of the route. All we knew is that a Central Road runs along the western edge of the hill and can be reached through the Vashi-Mhape road. We later found that there’

Riders of the Nation of a Billion - Dimensions and Horizons

Incidentally I wrote a post of my tranformation from just around the corner corporate junkie into a Rider (for sure, still gradually) few days ago. Now, here are the Indibloggers with a Contest for the Bikers of the Nation with Castrol guys . Evolving Biker Code of the Nation When you look at the scenario of Biking in a general sense, you would be attracted by the road-rowdies and rookies who ride to spread nuisance and are mostly acknowledged for their deeds by the newspaper. Hooligans may be the right word. But, once you get involved with the passion, you would be able to see how the passion of Biking, or rather Riding, is evolving in the country where 2-wheelers over-power 4-wheelers by scores of galactic height, but have never earned respect on highways just coz they are the smallest-speeding machine there! I would try to let you through the Indian Riders tale, so that you be able to appreciate how the riders of the Country are working, though in a segregative way

Alcina26 December 2010 at 11:43
Like the way you have defined the relation of food and education..

All the best to your endevour
Dr. Pratibha Singh27 December 2010 at 11:27
Very impressive presentation and written for the great cause.
umeshpatel27 December 2010 at 17:22
like your comment, keep posting
Ghumakkar Punit27 December 2010 at 19:21
@Alcina @Pratibha @Umesh-Thanks for linking the post and support! :)
rupom roy4 October 2013 at 12:39
Hi,
Thanks for Supporting Akshaya Patra Foundation for a Cause.
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The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Email ids: rupom.roy@akshayapatra.org