This Teacher’s Day, let’s remember that every teacher was once a student, with a lunchbox to look forward to and lessons to learn. Some of the teachers shaping young minds today grew up as Akshaya Patra beneficiaries, their focus in class once depending on something as ordinary as a proper meal. Here are five stories that show where their journeys began and how far they’ve come.

Discover what is already inside you

Bharat Solanki: I remember our lunch periods before Akshaya Patra’s meals became routine, when some children opened tiffins from home and others pretended they weren’t hungry. Once the meals started, nobody had to explain an empty box, and a lot of us finally noticed what the teacher was writing on the board.

I work as a counsellor and visiting lecturer now, meeting students who feel they must follow a path someone else has walked. Don’t just follow what someone else is doing. Discover what is inside you. This Teacher’s Day, the boy who once needed direction is still helping others find their own.

The teacher who started with a maths problem

Saraswati: I studied entirely in government institutions, from Class 1 through my M.Com, at a school with just thirteen students, while money was tight at home. What stayed constant was the meal that arrived every afternoon without fail.

I decided I wanted to be a teacher in Class 2, though I could not explain why. It became clear years later in a Maths class, when I solved a problem on the blackboard and enjoyed explaining my working more than getting it right. A scholarship after my 2nd PUC helped me carry on, and today I lecture at Vidyavana First Grade College. When we teach something, children learn, and that is what I love about teaching.

From waiting for the meal to teaching the next generation

Bhola Baghel: I grew up in a small village near Mathura and studied at our local primary government school. My family didn’t have much, but they believed strongly in education even when it was hard to see where that belief would lead.

Some days, the meal was the reason we walked to school at all. I sometimes carried a portion home to share with my family, because there wasn’t always enough on our table. Sometimes, that one plate of food was the only reason we showed up and the reason we kept believing in a better future.

I completed my B.Ed. and now tutor children up to Classes 10 and 12, teaching for free in my village too, for children whose families cannot afford tuition. This Teacher’s Day, I hope to become a government teacher myself.

When one meal makes room for a dream

Bhanu Pratap Singh: I grew up in Vrindavan and studied at a government school from Class 1 to Class 8, before moving into Physics. Today I work as a lab instructor, guiding engineering students through experiments once out of reach for a boy from my background.

The Mid-Day Meal Programme wasn’t dramatic. It was simply dependable, and its arrival meant one less thing to worry about and more room to focus on the lesson ahead. The distance between a meal and a career in teaching can span years, but every journey begins somewhere.

Some plates, some lessons

Five different villages, five different subjects, five entirely different paths. What connects Bharat, Saraswati, Bhola and Bhanu is not just that they once ate a meal that helped them stay in school. It is what they chose to do with the years that followed.

This Teacher’s Day, it is worth remembering that education rarely moves in a straight line. It moves through Maths problems on blackboards, through jeera rice on Thursdays, through a portion of food carried home to share, until somewhere along the way a handful of children decide to give what they once received.

At Akshaya Patra Foundation, that is really what Child Education looks like up close: not one dramatic turning point but a thousand small ones, held together by something as unremarkable as a shared meal. This Teacher’s Day, spare a thought for the other Akshaya Patra beneficiaries who quietly became teachers, and for the Akshaya Patra Foundation kitchens still serving that same simple belief. A plate of food today can become someone else’s classroom tomorrow.

A man does not become a father the day his child is born. He is becoming one much earlier – in the responsibilities he accepts, the thoughts he carries about his child’s future, the plans he makes and the life he hopes to build for his child. Fatherhood is often expressed not through words, but through consistent action – in the effort to provide, protect and care every day.

Father’s Day – The Journey of Recognising Fathers

On 9 May 1909, while attending a Mother’s Day church service, a question struck a young woman named Sonora Smart Dodd: “Why is there no day honouring fathers?”

After losing her mother at the age of 16, she witnessed her father raise her and her siblings with dedication and strength. This experience inspired her lifelong commitment to recognising fathers and their role in shaping families.

Her efforts led to the first Father’s Day celebration on 19 June 1910. However, it wasn’t until 1972 that the day received official recognition in the United States, when President Richard Nixon declared it a national holiday, fulfilling a six-decade-long vision of a woman who was then in her 80s.

Today, Father’s Day is celebrated worldwide on the third Sunday of June.

Like a father, Akshaya Patra Strives to Protect Childhood

When one becomes a father, his everyday work is about ensuring his children are fed, educating them and empowering them to stand on their feet. When Akshaya Patra started its journey in 2000 with 1,500 children, the idea behind it was to serve warm, nutritious mid-day meals every day and thus ensure no child is deprived of education because of hunger.

Today, with the support of central and state governments, corporates and well-wishers, we feed 2.35 million children across India. The success stories of children whose lives were transformed just because they received mid-day meals at schools make all the challenges we faced worthwhile, just as a father feels proud seeing his child win in life.

Fatherhood in Action: Voices from the Ground

For fathers like Devraj, ensuring that their children receive nutritious food at school every day is a huge relief.

Like a Father, We Show up Every Day

Just as a father leaves home every day so that his child can learn, grow and dream without worry, thousands of Akshaya Patra team members begin their day with a similar purpose – to serve millions of children across the country. You can also be part of this endeavour.

Join Us

This Father’s Day, honour your father or father-like figures by serving mid-day meals to a child who needs your support the most. By contributing, you become part of one of the most trusted NGOs in India, inspiring millions of dreams to come true.

This day, let’s carry forward the meaning of responsibility our fathers taught us. Make a charity donation today.

Every child deserves someone who believes in their future. Will you be one?