A little chocolate cupcake and a hand-made thank you card are bringing smiles to Pondicherry’s Covid-19 warriors
For Frank, a Swachh Bharat supervisor in Pondicherry, this coronavirus pandemic has a silver lining. “Earlier, people used to think less of sanitation workers but since this pandemic started, people have started to respect us and recognise our work.” Frank’s fellow workers were all thrilled when some Pondicherry residents gifted them home-baked chocolate cupcakes and hand-made thank-you cards through the Gratitude Cakes Project. “Their gifts may be small but it is an encouraging gesture and makes us want to do our job better,” Frank says with a huge smile as the other sanitation workers break into applause.
The Gratitude Cakes Project originated in Auroville as a way to thank healthcare workers and volunteers with a little something for their service during Covid-19. Seeing the positive feedback from those who received the gifts, Uma Prajapati, who was coordinating the initiative in Auroville, decided to extend it to Pondicherry and reached out to Anjali Schiavina, fellow member of the ‘Fair Trade Twin Towns Pondicherry and Auroville’ movement.
“When Uma came to me with the suggestion of doing this in Pondicherry, I decided to organise it and immediately reached out to some friends,” says Anjali.
“11 women were selected to be cluster heads and they in turn reached out to more people, creating small groups. The distribution of the cakes was planned according to the days that each group was baking. We had a goal of baking 5000 cakes and we achieved it,”
The Fair Trade concept (that emphasises on decent working conditions, local sustainability etc) became a part of the initiative with all bakers being provided Fair Trade Cocoa Powder by Pascati-an Indian organic and certified fair trade chocolate brand, that sources its cocoa from farmers collectives in Kerala.
Home Bakers and Little Helpers
“We brainstormed and came up with the idea of cupcakes as they’re easy to pack and distribute”, says Twinkle Gupta, a baker and entrepreneur. “I also shared a few recipes. For everyone who wanted to show their appreciation for Pondicherry’s Covid-19 warriors and frontline workers, this was the best opportunity.”
What made the initiative more joyous is that it included several children who made the thank-you cards that accompanied the cupcakes. Sangita Punjabi, a home baker who makes specialty cakes, made up her team with many little bakers who helped turn out 700 cupcakes!
“The youngest helper in my team was a 8-year-old boy who had just started baking during the lockdown by reading recipes and watching videos. I also had a 12-year-old artist making cards for doctors and nurses.”
For Ashwini Menon, another home baker, who conducts baking classes, this initiative was a great way to reconnect with her former baking students. “I reached out to my old students and they were all happy to be a part of this initiative and thus the baking began!” Though not an expert baker, Prriyam Goyal, a restaurateur found herself baking and coordinating a team, “I felt the hard work was completely worth it as the effort brought a smile to the faces of the frontline workers. They’re the ones fighting this virus day in and day out and hats off to them.”
With the help of Dr. Kavi Priya, who is working with the core Covid-19 team at the Directorate of Health, the Pondicherry team has distributed over 5200 cakes. They have been gifted to doctors, nurses, healthcare workers at eight Primary Health Care Centres, sanitary workers, police personnel and administrative staff at the CM’s office , the Municipality and the Collector’s office -in just a few weeks’ time. “The enthusiasm from the residents and small businesses was unbelievable. They all felt this was a platform through which they could express their gratitude,” says Anjali.
How You Can Join the Gratitude Project
You can contribute by baking a batch of cupcakes with the Fair Trade Cocoa Powder that will will be provided to you. Kids at home or in the neighbourhood could be roped in to make handmade thank you cards. Contact: Anjali at 98940 42756 for more information.
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Feature Photo: RatatouilleTime
