Indus Valley Times

By Akshya Rout

Kalinganagar, Sept. 12 : Two tribal home cooks from Tata Steel Birsa Munda Rehabilitation Colony, Gobarghati, namely Meera Soy and Reshma Jamuda, recently completed a 10-day ‘Capacity Building Workshop’ at the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. This workshop was a collaborative effort between Tata Steel Foundation and the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL).

 Meera Soy and Reshma Jamuda were part of a larger team of 19 home cooks representing seven different tribes including Asur, Mahadev Koli, Rabha, Ho, Santhal, Oraon, and Karbi, from six states namely, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, and Maharashtra.

 For the past eight years, both women have been active participants in tribal cuisine programme of Samvaad – Tribal Conclave at Jamshedpur and the Tribal Identity programme at Kalinganagar. Their culinary skills have earned them approximately 6.75 Lakhs rupees over the last five years by providing tribal cuisine for various events organized by the Tata Steel Foundation, such as the Guru Kol Lako Bodra anniversary, the Birsa Munda Birth anniversary, and the Ho New Year celebration.

 With the continued support of the Tata Steel Foundation, Meera Soy and Reshma Jamuda have become inspiring agents of change within their community.