Bake and Do Good!

Shrieks of laughter. Smiles from cheek to cheek. Children everywhere sharing food and eating from each other’s plates. Seeing this was truly a blissful experience.

Siddarth at the workshop

To bring my passion for cooking and help the younger ones build up cooking skills, I decided to conduct a workshop at a school for underprivileged children. I was connected with an NGO called the Aakanksha Foundation, and I had the privilege to be in touch with the lovely head, Sinchana. The whole workshop was planned within a matter of weeks. I spoke to Sinchana and got all the details of the children, the location and based on that started planning for the day. After a couple hiccups with the menu and other problems we ran into while planning, we finally got it right and set a date for the workshop.

On the day, myself along with my parents and two of my closest friends, Mahiyu and Sidharth, got to the facility early. We met with the volunteers from the NGO and briefed them on what I had planned out for the day. The kids had drawn and painted various beautiful pictures and charts. The volunteers started hanging those up, while we started laying out the ingredients for each dish in their own sections. On a whiteboard, we wrote out the ingredients along with their measurements. The kids were split up into 5 teams each with a unique dessert as their name. They were first given a hairnet and gloves and a brief introduction on hygiene before starting. After they washed their hands, they were sent to their respective tables, with a volunteer helping each team. To help with the language barrier, I spoke to a volunteer Ameeth who helped me sound out what I was to say and was there to correct me every step of the way.

We started off with chocolate chip cookies as the first dish, and I gave a demonstration in the front, of what had to be done, and how the measurements should be taken. The captain of each team was then asked to come forward to the cookie station, to measure out the ingredients and put them in their bowl. They all then made their dough and laid them out on baking trays to go in the oven. The cookies were baked in batches, and while that happened, we went on to the next dish: Loaded Nachos.

The kids watched the demonstration in the front, with us explaining each ingredient and the quantity to them. As soon as they were done making it, each team devoured their plate, and the plates being passed around. There were smiles all around with each team asking the volunteers, as well as us, to try their plates. Everybody was sharing their food; nobody was fighting over it and they all were delighted. The whole environment was extremely pure and wholesome.

We then took a small break with the kids finishing their nachos and playing some games with the volunteers, while we set up for the next dish and took the first batch of cookies out of the oven. The next dish we planned out was a no-cook sandwich. This was on the list so that the kids had something they could recreate at home, without any required appliances and without spending much money. It was a simple recipe and they all loved it. Each kid had two-three sandwiches and they were sharing their plates asking each other, as well as us, to try their creations.

The whole experience was surreal and truly eye-opening. The kids were all so honest and appreciative of the gesture. They came up to me and hugged me, thanking me for conducting the workshop for them, leaving me on the verge of tears. Happy ones of course. The kids left there with some gifts we had brought for them and a smile on their face. And so did I, I could not stop smiling after it had concluded.

Here, is the link to a reel showcasing the entire event.

About the workshop

The workshop was organised in collaboration with Aakanksha Trust, Bangalore. Around 30 students attended the workshop which helped them in understanding a new career opportunity of being a baker.

Author: Hi! I’m Siddarth. I’m a student in grade 12 at Greenwood High in Bangalore. I am interested in Finance and hope to study that in the future. A chief interest of mine is cooking. I have been cooking since I was 8 years old and started off making various flavours of ice cream. I slowly moved into savoury dishes and started to cook new things. It’s my passion and, who knows, maybe even a career someday. Never say never, that’s my motto. I love getting my hands dirty and working in the kitchen alongside my mother, who taught me most of what I know. I always strive to be better and don’t ever shy away from trying. Experimentation is the backbone of my cooking and my personality. I hope to be able to share this passion with others throughout the course of my life. To do this, I hosted the workshop and, needless to say, I had a wonderful experience.