Arun's World

Friday, January 16th, 2009

Scholarships for the Needy: 2008-2009

Hope you all had a wonderful "Makar Sankranti." Now the Sun rises earlier each day and sets later, bringing light and warmth to all aspects of our lives. This year, I celebrated Sankranti in Mumbai with close family and overate "til-gul" and "til ladoo." Too lazy to ask why this focus on sesame, I simply devour bags of those diminutive sesame balls held together with dark jaggery.

As we gorge ourselves, let's turn our minds to the less fortunate amongst us and see how we can bring joy to their lives too.

This started as a desire to support needy girls at the Shanbhag School in Kumta, endowed in the name of my grandfather. Each year more friends and relatives joined in, and this year, Shanbhag Scholarships were awarded to 35 students (23 girls and 12 boys). We also extended scholarships to several other schools in Kumta. We hope to continue this trend within Kumta and one day I dream of supporting ALL needy girls in Kumta!

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Thursday, August 28th, 2008

Lunch at the Shanbhag School

In 2007, the Shanbhag School in Kumta (and their parent, the Konkan Education Trust), started to provide lunch for all their students. In the midst of a long day, the students had previously rushed home during their lunch hour. There are also no cafeterias or restaurants near the school.

The school made a significant investment in cooking equipment and prepares a nutritious, vegetarian lunch for the ~ 850 primary and secondary school students. The lunch is simply rice, sambar or daal, a lentil curry or vegetable and pickles (see actual student plate above).

During my meetings with parents of Scholarship recipients, and listening to comments at the Parents Teachers Meeting, parents absolutely love the school lunch program. Parents are relieved of the pressure to pack a lunch every morning, or have it ready for the lunch break. Parents are also surprised (and glad) their kids actually eat the variety of vegetables and lentils the school serves. The school subsidizes the lunch and charges students Rs 80 per month (~$2 per month, Rs 4 per meal or ~ 10 cents per lunch!). Students not on the meal plan can eat occasional meals and drop cash in an unmanned donation box.

Kids seem to love the lunches too. Lunch is eaten in the company of their friends with a degree of peer-pressure to finish their plate. The lunch is done within 30 minutes, and since they still get an hour for lunch, they get to play around, gossip, or browse the library.

Knowing this, I showed up just before lunch time to "test the quality of the school lunch program." I always have interesting reasons to be present wherever free lunch is served. heeeeee! heeeee! Very delicious food and a primary reason why we included lunch as part of the scholarship package we provide needy students. Whenever you are in Kumta, you are welcome to join in for a free lunch!

See pics of Lunch at the Shanbhag School

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