Food for Education

The Akshaya Patra Foundation believes that no child should be denied an education because of hunger. It is because of this belief that the Bangalore children's charity started providing mid-day meals to government school children across the country. This child NGO Bangalore currently feeds over 1.3 million children across India every day, and is on the mission to feed 5 million by 2020. But like other charity organizations in Bangalore, Akshaya Patra relies on the help of donors to achieve its goal.

The Bangalore children's charity is present in 20 locations across 9 states in India, covering 10,050 government schools in total. This child NGO Bangalore, has six kitchens in Karnataka, two of which are in Bangalore. The kitchen at H.K Hill was the first kitchen to be opened by Akshaya Patra in 2000, while the Vasanthapura kitchen was opened in 2007. This Bangalore children's charity feeds a total of 460,046 children in Karnataka.

In a recently concluded survey on the state-wise mid-day meals ranking, this child NGO Bangalore was proud to find that Karnataka was the highest amongst the states with an implementation rate of 77.79 per cent. In coordination with other charity organizations in Bangalore and the state, this Bangalore children's charity has contributed significantly towards helping Karnataka achieve this standing through its six kitchens across the state.

The good work that this child NGO Bangalore achieves is noteworthy. The Bangalore children's charity reaches out to 2,627 government schools in Karnataka and is one of the charity organizations in Bangalore to hold itself up to high standards of quality in both produce and processes. Therefore, all six of the kitchens run by this child NGO Bangalore are centralised kitchen units, while four of the six are ISO22000:2005 certified.

The Vasanthapura kitchen of this Bangalore children's charity has been a hub of innovation with the launch of a food lab on its premises. Here the raw material analysis of pulses, spices, vegetable oils, ghee and flour are undertaken to check against adulteration and colouring agents. Akshaya Patra is one of the charity organizations of Bangalore to strive towards innovation, improvement and expertise at all times.

Safety is at the top of minds of this Bangalore children's charity. At every step of the operations process, across all the kitchens, this child NGO Bangalore ensures that only clean, hygienic processes are in play. From the procurement of the raw material to the cooking, storing and delivering of the food this Bangalore children's charity strives only for the best.

Akshaya Patra even excelled above other charity organizations of Bangalore when it was awarded the CII National Award for Food Safety by the The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-Jubilant Bhartia Food & Agriculture Centre of Excellence).
This Bangalore childrens charity still continues its relentless efforts to provide ‘Food for Education’ and you can help.

Donate to help this worthy cause, or spare your time and volunteer with this child NGO Bangalore, and you can help brighten these young lives.

(Sharing on behalf of the Akshay Patra Foundation)

Click Here to Donate

Indian General Elections 2014 with social mobile apps

Hello Reader,

We saw our country captivated.
We followed the leaders who motivated.
We emulated their visionary pursuit.
We learnt to fight, to not stay mute.
And one day, we knew what freedom tastes like.

We believed in their powers.
We trusted and voted showers.
We dreamt along their dreamy promises.
Every morning,
We kept waiting, for the promised sunrises.
And one day, we knew what deceit tastes like.

Yes, we lost faith in our leaders. ‘Leader’ is a very positive word. Politicians are ruling our country now. The same politicians who make promising manifestos and grand campaigns before elections and for the next five ruling years, we do not hear much from them, neither do we see them working on anything big. This is what has been happening for past many years.

Even if one wants to take interest in what’s going on will eventually be so depressed by the repetitive vicious circle, that only phrase one would say is “Let it be”.
We had great leaders, who actually wanted India to grow. They were extinct like dinosaurs and were taken over by nobodies. Even, the citizens lost interest. It was easier to sit at the tea table and blabber “This country is shit! Politicians are dogs!”
It was the best place to exhale all the tension and anger of the whole day.  

A few months back, I spoke to some my friends regarding their future plans. It was obvious that they all wanted a life full of comfort, lots of money, and a girlfriend by their side. But, it was also sad to know that they all wanted to leave India. They wanted to settle in either the US or some other foreign nation. India couldn’t fulfill their needs.
They asked me the same and I differed from their opinions. They also had a reason to laugh on my 'bring a change’ thought. For once, I thought they were not wrong either.
"We have one life, let us enjoy", one said. They have no expectations from this country.

“How does it matter who we vote for?” another friend said. “They are all thieves.”
I really felt lost in the conversation. I had no answers to their questions. They were not wrong either.

Next morning, the Sun finally rose. The newspapers told a story of a New Leader, who was unlike all others. He looked promising. It was the day when Mr. Arvind Kejriwal stepped into politics and formed his own party called AAP.

Now, I had a reason to fight for this cause. To ask my friends to vote, to spread the awareness.
To reach out to the youth and ask them to vote.
To tell them that it is not yet the end. To ask them to not give up on their hopes.
To tell them that India can still shine.
My aim was to reach out to the farthest I can and share my message to the maximum number of youngsters.
The answer was right in my hands. I quickly, typed my message via WeChat and forwarded it to as many as possible:

We can bring the change. 
To dream big, is in our Range.
We can vote for Revolution.
Think! We will win by our own Contribution.
And one day, we will taste Freedom... again.

***

Written for
Vote for India contest by IndiBlogger and WeChat

Poem: Ink and Muse

Moments of solitude, A tinge of blue and strain,

The festive Winter night was lethargic and Cold as ever

Never expected warmth, No, Not until I met you again

Over the labyrinth of Networks, cozily, holding my shiver.

What dawned, seemed to be a breezy, transcribed raillery

transcending into an abstract, of our synonymous musings. 

On my naked canvas, it was anything but just Not tomfoolery,

We scrawled, of realms, of films, of likings and of feelings. 

With my arid, thirsty Quill, and your awe-inspiring, moist ink 

I breath, to dream, to scribble and to sustain through my lyrical notions 

And Whilst you are my Muse, my August stars would never shrink

As you’d forge them to Aurum, with your Alchemy and your potions. 

I embraced two novel Cronies, as the midnight kissed the clock

It was the beginning of a New Year, of another virgin epoch.

-Ashish

Poem: Santa was Gone

Innocent minds we had, 

anticipating His thespian arrival.

Seated in flocks, we waited,   

listening to the verses of Bible. 

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” He appeared, 

while jingle bells tolled the milieu. 

We all had our shares of euphoria 

before He bid his final adieu.

Every year, our faith, in Him, faded

as our psyche questioned the logic.

We knew there was no Santa, 

or a flying sleigh or any real Magic. 

An impostor with fake white beard, 

Masquerading, Red attire he would don.

Once we discovered the truth, 

Forever, our Santa was Gone.

We forgot, while trying to capture bliss, 

in building a world, that is Materialistic; 

Our grown-up minds failed to learn,

that goodwill, joy were actually, only symbolic. 

Unadulterated minds we had, 

when we sang along the Carol song.

We believed there is a Santa, 

and now I realize we were not wrong.

Merry Christmas to all the Readers and Fellow-Bloggers.

 -Ashish

A Better Companion

“I haven’t seen him so happy in years”, I overheard my father saying this to my mother. 

And, he wasn’t wrong. It was the best birthday gift I had ever got; a brand new Tablet. Nobody had to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce my state of mind. It was crystal like clear that I was over ecstatic. A few times, I had to force my jaw muscles to control my involuntary ear-to-ear grin.

It was my new best buddy. Pets were never allowed in our house. Neither did I have any siblings. Being a single child was always quite boring. But, this new friend of mine had brought colors into my life. For hours, I wouldn’t leave the Tablet alone. No, I think it was the opposite. There were so many things to keep me occupied. My all time favorite books, the kind of music I like and the addictive games were all at my fingertips. Nobody knew me better than my personalized Tablet. It helped me in project works and assignments too. It was a perfect balance to my work and play. And the best part was that it absorbed all my musings and my diary scribbling. 

Was I bored, anymore? 

No! Who had time for that?

It walked with me till the bedtime. Even though, all the lights were turned off in the night, the Tablet kept me awake till late. And then, I heard my mother protesting me to shut it down and sleep. It was hard to follow her orders though.

One day, I decided to take my Tablet on a morning walk with me to a nearby botanical garden. I found a lone corner near a beautiful pond. Wiped the dust off the ground and sat there cross legged with my Tablet and plugged in my headphones. I clicked a few pictures of the colorful butterflies hovering near me, pushing me to write down an ode. It couldn’t have been a better ambience. In all my good spirits, I scribbled the verse. “Nobody can multitask like you, my friend”, I said and took a satisfactory sigh on finishing my work and got up.

I should have been careful about the winter morning and the moist grass. One wrong step and I lost the grip. It tossed up and the waters looked ready to swallow it with zero signs of remorse. And before my eyes, there was a splash of water in the pond and my friend comfortably drowned into it. I felt sick. Closing my eyes tight, I wished that the mishap never took place. I opened back my eyes, but the confirmation made it even worse.   “What am I going to say to my parents?”  I was shivering, of cold or the fright I was not sure.  “I am so dead”, I was ashamed of myself. Far away, I could listen to a pleasant, yet annoying sound. I concentrated on that.

It was my Tablet waking me up from the nightmare. It was right there beside my pillow, where I had left it last night. I took a deep breath, holding my Lenovo Yoga Tablet and realizing what I possess, I laughed to myself, “That was another unrealistic nightmare; I have a better way to never lose your grip, my friend.”

Written for "Better Way" Contest
Thanks to Lenovo Yoga Tablet 
and IndiBlogger for this Idea.