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#atozchallenge: Tasty Treats at Project Why

For the A to Z Blogging Challenge, I’m blogging 26 days in April based on the alphabet and bringing you stories from the nonprofit Project Why.

 Damyanti Biswas talks about the Nonprofit ProjectWhy In the slums of New DelhiRight from day one Project Why decided to source all its needs from within the community be it its staff, its spaces, its skills and above all, its food. Community lunch for the staff began on day one. The first meals were bought from the local food cart, and subsequently the meals were cooked in a small kitchen at the Project. But as Project Why grew, the tiny kitchen felt too cramped, so the food got made at a staff member’s home. This has been the case for the food at the Giri Nagar, Govindpuri and Okhla centers.

The food is prepared early in the morning, packed and then dropped at each center where lunch is eaten together: staff, volunteers and the occasional guest. At the Women’s Center Roshni cooks the lunch, a simple fare of dal and rice and sometimes a vegetable. Roshni has been with the center since day one. Sometimes one of the teachers pitches in and you may get a plate of chili potato. On special occasions, as a guest, you get a taste of Roshni’s incredible vegetable pilaf.

Lunch at Project Why breaks barriers of nation, class and creed, and becomes a way for the entire staff, volunteers, and guests to bond over the most basic of human activities: sharing a meal. Cooked with tons of love, this simple fare has been a constant since Project Why began, and is the tastiest treat in town. I’ve tasted their aloo-gobhi and chole, and can vouch for both.

If you ever volunteer at Project Why, you’d share in this meal too. Everyone is invited!

Would you like to come volunteer at Project Why? Have you ever cooked for the entire staff of an organization? Does your organization serve lunch?

To Donate  Project Why, CLICK HERE.
To Contact Project Why, Click Here
 

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Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

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