What a difference a year makes…

AkankshaStudentsAvidPlymouthHighThis time last year we had just had our first cooking session. I remember anxiously planning, and making an epic Ikea trip picking up supplies, and my own family helping me wash and pack cooking kits. With Ms. Edwards’ help we were able to organize the room and students. At that time I barely knew everyone though everyone was starting to show their personalities. We were just starting out. I remember getting such a high after our first cooking session proved to be a success. Now a year later, I still get that high each time I see the students, but it’s a new type of high. Instead of first-day nervous jitters, it’s the thrill of coming back home to family and friends after being gone for a while. In just one year we have learned to work together in the kitchen and formed a Nashta Exchange team that plays on and off the court. More importantly we have perfected making Pav Bhaji and have been able to blog, connect, and help our friends abroad. We have been able to practice our computer skills, as well as our English reading, writing and comprehension.

Now a year later we are closer and our Nashta Exchange family keeps growing. Ms. Edwards’ welcomed her baby girl Ethyn and there are new smiling faces in both the American and Indian classrooms. In January, I was able to visit our friends at the Akanksha Foundation. Some were taller and all were definitely wiser. Earlier this month, I also visited the Philadelphia classroom and the same could be said about them.

It was obvious after each visit that both groups of kids were a family and we hope to bring the two families closer together.

Happy Snacking!

 

Hello From Mumbai!

Sumita, Faahim, ReshmaWe wanted to to share some of the news that everyone is talking about here (the good and the bad.) Right now in India there has been unseasonal rains. The rains and hailstorms have destroyed framer’s lives and crops such as wheat , jowar and sugarcane. Fruits like oranges, pomegranates mango and grapes have been affected. The farmers had hoped that a good crop this year would help them to clear their debt but their hopes have been shattered. The government has approved over thousands of crores for relief to the farmers. The children of the farmers have helped their fathers for hours on the fields. After so much hard work, seeing the farms washed out is not easy. But the kids are telling their parents not to lose hope.

We have also recently had elections in India. There are three main political parties. 1) Bharatiya Janta Party, Aam Aadmi Party, and Congress. The three leaders of these parties who are contesting for the post of the Prime Minister are Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi respectively. All the leaders are promising a lot to the people. Its going to be very difficult for the people to decide who to vote for. Rahul Gandhi is promoting women’s empowerment. However, the promises the candidates are making are never ending. They are creating so many jobs but still one out of three graduates are unemployed. Thats why so many people are going abroad in search of employment. Caste based politics is still a major problem in India and part of the election and film stars are roped in for the election campaigns.

The Supreme court has created a “none of the above button” while casting your vote. Some did not want to vote for anyone after reading about the amount of corruption in the country, but with this option of “none of the above”, it seems as though more people want to vote.

Whats going on on your end?

——Faahim, Reshma, Umesh, Sumita,

My First Taste

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Despite my heart and my belly being FULL of Pav Bhaji love, I felt like jumping for joy. I remember eating Pav Bhaji with my siblings years ago as teens thinking that starting a Pav Bhaji stand here in the states would be the most amazing business idea. Years later, the project developed into a way of helping students across boarders and its exciting to see it all coming together. Ms. Edwards and her AVID class at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, myself and my sister Neha (who tagged along and in the spirit of togetherness) cooked for the first time as a team. We divided ourselves up into 3 groups and took over the Home Ec classroom. We started a marathon of chopping ingredients and then moved to the stoves. High points included Josh’s professional like chopping skills with the garlic, the girls so lovingly de-shelling the peas, the insane amounts of ghee (clarified butter) that was used, and James telling me his name was Jamal! I could have most definitely done without the stinky cauliflower smell once it got chopped up and wished I could have saved Mia from all of the onion tears.

All in all, my sister and I, were was blown away by how gracious everyone was. Not only were the students (and lets not forget Ms. Edwards) a blast to hang out with, but they were also polite and charming. Everyone got right to cleaning, doing the dishes, and putting all the cookware away. The students even took all of my boxes of supplies out to my car after we were done. I felt spoiled, lucky, and happy! WAH WAH!