“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what brought you here? You’re a Brandeis graduate, you could be anywhere in the world,” I asked Geeta.

It was a causal Wednesday and like most Wednesdays, this one was full of its own mid-week nightmares. By the time I met Geeta, I was beginning to think the nightmare would never end. I asked the question almost as an afterthought, but I’m glad I did. Her answer kept me going for the rest of the day. In fact, it will stay with me forever.

“Have you visited the kitchen?” she asked. “It’s an amazing experience.”

 “I have been supporting the cause of The Akshaya Patra Foundation since last one year. I got to know about the Foundation from one of my close friend who is based in US.I was little apprehensive in the beginning. What was bothering me was – Is it one of the thousand NGOs which crop up everyday? I went through their website, found out the contact details, called them up and decided to visit their kitchen. I was spellbound to see the huge operation running in their ISO certified kitchen where they cooked for 1.5 lakh children in front of my own eyes.

"My source of inspiration is to help in whatever [way] I can…” Mr Balaji Sadana one of Akshaya Patra’s oldest donors said when we asked him why he donated to Akshaya Patra.

“Akshaya Patra has helped my neighborhood…” he added further.

What made him continue in his support is that we have never failed to provide meals to all children. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been supported since the beginning by the kindness of its well wishers.

It is an organization that works everyday to make sure the children get a healthy, delicious meal.