After a long telephonic conversation about Akshaya Patra, Rajeev (Assistant Manager – Tele Collection) managed to get an appointment from Mrs. Reddy (name changed) a Headmistress of a Primary school. Rajeev was trying to schedule the appointment in the second half of the day as the place was quite far away, but she told in an uncompromising voice “be in my office sharp at 9 o’ clock.”

As Akshaya Patra races ahead from zero to over 1.2 million, its noble cause is complemented by someone who is known for ‘flirting with speed’. Sudharshana Rao Karwal, one of India’s leading racers has decided to endorse the world’s largest NGO-run mid day meal programme, Akshaya Patra. The ‘need for speed’ of this 25-year-old lad from Bangalore has made him proud to be the first racer from Karnataka to win the JK Tyre national racing title. Being qualified as a trained pilot in the US, Sudharshana aspires to chase his dream down to the Formula one track.

7:00 AM I slipped into a pair of oversized slippers, tucked my hair into a shower cap, and stepped into the hot and steamy kitchen, where human-sized cauldrons full of rice and sambhar were brewing. On my right, several large metal baskets were being filled with the exact same quantity of rice at the simple press of a button. Workers carried these containers and placed them under a row of faucets, where pressurized water filled the bowls and cleansed the rice. I turned back around to see water gush out from the bottom of the cauldrons.