Traditional practices energize IIM-A food festival

AHMEDABAD: While two women were busy helping the urban housewives in trying their hands on making butter milk in the traditional way, two brothers were busy teaching a crowd on how to make pots on wheels.
In the background, a team of artists in Rajasthani attire were dancing to the traditional folk music.
Apart from recipes, it was a riot of traditional activities atfood festival of Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) on the campus of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A).The three-day festival ended on Sunday.
Two brothers Chhagan Lakhtaria (80) and Raghav Lakhtaria (45) from Jasdan in Raj-Sattvik-2011, the traditionalkot who were making pot on wheels in a traditional style drew a huge attention from the visitors. “We decided to exhibit how pots are made to the urban people. It feels good to see these visitors watching our skill with admiration. They also try their hands on it,” said Raghav. As many as 40 participants have turned up from Jasdan this year.
Sattvik-2011 has turned into a bigger affair this year. “While we have around 40 thousand visitors last year, the footfall this year is expected to touch 50 thousand,” said an official of SRISTI. The huge footfall was a boon for the participants.
A student from Manipur, Priyananda Sharma who presented traditional food with his team, said, “Our objective was to share our food which is so different from that of Gujarat. However we ended selling beyond our expectation.”