Stories of Children
For Minu Behar, the meal at school is often the only food she has during the day. With no one to cook for her and her siblings after the loss of their mother, the mid-day meal provided is a blessing in many ways. While her father, a rickshaw puller, goes out to earn a living for the family, her youngest sister, not yet old enough to attend classes, stays at home. Minu and her second sister go to Beatrix Primary School in Puri and if there is food left over from the lunch provided everyday, they take it home for the little one. Minu always waits in suspense to find out what dishes are on the menu, whether it is Alu Mutter (Potato Peas gravy), Vegetable Pulao, Paneer Sabji (Cottage cheese with vegetables), Dalma (vegetables with lentils), Kheer (a milk based sweet) or any other specialty.
Anantha Badu who studies in Class 4, dreams of being an engineer one day. Having lost his father at a young age, he stays with his mother and 9 siblings near Puri. While his mother and elder sister work from home making cotton wicks for oil lamps on a contract basis, his 3 elder brothers work as helpers at odd jobs. Only Anantha and his younger sister, who are of school going age, attend classes. His favourite meal? He loves the soya and paneer sabji that we prepare.
Mamatha’s father, a physical labourer in Bangalore, provides for his family on less than Rs. 100, a mere $2 a day, but he has great hopes for his daughter, encouraging her to study as much as she can. This she does, diligently working for 2 hours after school everyday to remain at the top of her class and make her father proud. Mamatha dreams of being a doctor one day, so she can take care of her ill mother and make life for her father more comfortable.
Murthy's teachers believe he can make miracles happen. At the top of his class always, he wants to be a police inspector one day. After school, when he has completed his chores and helped his father, Murthy says he concentrates on his studies for at least 1 hour everyday.
“I come hungry to the school eating very little at home. I love the variety of food that is given here in the Akshaya Patra meal," says Bhabhani Behera, who is in class 3 of the Sechan Bihar Primary School in Puri. Bhabhani's father provides for Bhabhani, her 5 sisters and 3 brothers through the money he earns as a day laborer at a construction site. Her mother sells dry fish at the market with the help of her older sisters.
