Good food for a Good Cause The Bombay Canteen 5th Independence Day Dawaat, This August 15, 2019

A pledge for farmers, farmlands and full tables In Support of Naandi Foundation

Mumbai, 10th August 2019: Get your flags out, paint the city in tri-colours, and come to The Bombay Canteen to celebrate all things Indian, this Independence Day! The 5th Independence Day Dawaat, this 15th August, is back with its pledge of good food for a good cause. 1,873 guests, staff and well-wishers from across the world have in the past 4 years raised Rs.33.96 lakhs for our supporting charities through this annual Independence Day celebration, also making this one of the most eagerly awaited fund-raiser events in Mumbai. In this, our fifth year, we’re energised by a new purpose. To grow the daawat and extend it to our farmers who make daawats possible for us. The agrarian community give tirelessly to the land so that we may dine at full tables, while their children rarely experience the joy of an endless meal with statistics indicating that 85% of children of small and marginal farmers are malnourished.

So here is your chance to contribute to a powerful initiative and participate in the Independence Day Dawaat fundraiser at The Bombay Canteen on August 15, 2019, only for lunch from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm, in support of Naandi Foundation. A social sector organization, The Naandi Foundation (www.naandi.org) has been partnering with Adivasi farmers in Araku, Andhra Pradesh, for over the last two decades to restore their land and forest and make it productive again. This year, The Bombay Canteen joins the efforts to ensure a full table for the families of these Adivasi farmers of Araku by pledging its support to the Naandi Foundation’s efforts to set up sustainable fruit orchards in Chedu Put; a village located 38 kms outside Araku town.

And since this Independence Day Daawat, comprising a sumptuous meal of regional Indian delicacies, its also about celebrating freedom, we encourage you to pay what you like for your meal. Remember, everything you donate, goes to the Naandi Foundation for the incredible work they do. Your contribution will go towards ensuring that the farmers can buy better quality and more diverse seeds to repopulate their land; improve the quality of their soil with more sustainable farming practices such as composting, bio-inoculants and bio-sprays; and be able to build better infrastructure for their farms.

At the 5th Independence Day Daawat fundraiser lunch, we join all the tables for one day only and turn The Bombay Canteen into a thali restaurant serving regional Indian delicacies on a banana leaf where anyone can come in and eat, and pay what they want to raise money for our cause that's bigger than all our appetites. A daawat to sustain future entrepreneurs: Araku Farmer Families. Come, join our pledge for farmers, farmlands and full tables so they too can be truly Independent! And with all the love and support we’ve got from you over the years, we are sure that hum hongey kamyab! And if you can’t make it for this unique fundraiser lunch, you can contribute to the cause online by visiting https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/tbc19https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/tbc19

The Independence Day Daawat is as diverse as our country, to encourage you to come eat and give back to the very farmers who ensure we have full tables. The community style dining experience, is India on a banana leaf with the chefs at The Bombay Canteen putting together a feast comprising dishes using indigenous ingredients from across sixteen states. This includes Kerela Moras Bhaji, Parippu Vada, Bengali Lau Ghonto, Bihari Kantola Chokha, Tamilian Eggplant Moju, Chicken and Bamboo Curry from Arunachal Pradesh. There is also Punjabi Martaban Mutton Kheema, Ajara Ghansal Rice ,Parsi Wild Saag and Pumpkin Dal with Bombay Maska Pav. All this with a selection of unusual chutneys and accompaniments including Mahua Raita from Madhya Pradesh, Assamese Tomato Chutney and Maharashtrian Pendhra Pickle, served up with chilled Aam Panna from Uttar Pradesh and Kokum Sherbet from Karnataka. There’s a delicious Goan Coconut & Baath Cake and Rajasthani Malt Milk Barfi to round off the meal.

The Naandi Foundation has established a large footprint in the area of sustainable agriculture and small farmer livelihoods. Araku is possibly Andhra’s best-kept secret. Over two-decades, their work in the hilly Araku region of south- eastern Indian is transforming lives of 100,00 Adivasi families. With the help of Naandi Foundation, we would like to empower the farmers to grow lush green folds of jamun, amla, guava and lemon trees in the village of Chedu Put. The money raised will help them in building farms in a sustainable manner and improve the quality of their soil so that the farmers can be in control of their land and business. Join us as we foster new farmlands and the farmer’s dreams of joyful daawats!

Independence Dawaat

Date: August 15th, Thursday 2019.

Time: only at Lunch from 11.30am to 3:30pm.

No reservations. Seating on first come, first serve, basis.

ABOUT NAANDI:

“Naandi” means “new start” in Sanskrit, a very fitting name for a foundation that has revitalized Araku Valley and given its farmers renewed hope in their lives. The Hyderabad based foundation offers services to child welfare programs that feed more than one million children a day, supplies nearly 3 million people with drinking water, and manages more than 1,700 schools. The Naandi Foundation works with 12,000 coffee farmers as part of the Araku project that Manoj Kumar, founder has initiated and has run since its launch in 2001. Naandi partners with various state governments, corporate houses, international and national development organizations and showcases large-scale successful delivery of public services. Services such as elementary education with positive discrimination of girls, safe drinking water and sanitation, large cooperative irrigated farming in dry land areas, end to end sustainable agriculture in tribal areas, skilling and employment for youth, safe motherhood and early childhood development including tackling of malnutrition amongst children, or any other socio- economic issue that is looking for an efficient solution.

Naandi has a team of 300 + full time professionals and over 3000 + front line development workers, often recruited and trained from within the communities, has expanded its foot print year on year across 16 states: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh touching the lives of more than 5 million underserved people so far.