I am here to share my story that how Akshaya Patra has impacted my life. My name is Darshan. I am 21 yrs old in my final year of engineering- electronics & communication. I wanted to share all my childhood memories which I remember very clearly.

My parents moved to Bangalore from Hosadurga when I was in 3^rd standard due to financial problems. I lived with my aunt for one year and then came to Bangalore. Both my parents were working then. My father has been a security supervisor for the last 10 yrs. My mother was working in a garment factory. Left to ourselves, I and my brother like most other children played all the time. I had no special interest in studies.

After my 7^th STD, my father told me that I would have to study in a government school nearby. The tuition fees were hard to pay for the other school. At lunch time a lot of days my mother used to pack the lunch for us. But on some days, we would get some junk food like groundnuts, cucumber etc.

When I was in the 9^th std, one day I went home and told my mother that you give me a plate. From tomorrow we are going to get food in the school from Akshaya Patra. The next day a big van came. We got the vessels and were waiting for the lunch bell to ring. We were curious about the food. My friends and I were serving the other children the food and then we sat down to have. There was enough left for us to have even while going back home at 4 pm. From that day, we had stomach full of food.

Interestingly I also had a new found interest in studies. In my 10^th I scored 80%. A scholarship from Akshaya Patra helped me complete my PUC with 87%.

I had to overcome a lot of financial problems to pursue engg, I worked part time in coffee day to pay my tuition fees and my comp. Finally in 2^nd year I got a bank loan from Canara Bank, Vijayanagara Branch. I am currently in my last year of engg. In campus placement I got recruited by HCL technologies.

“I have a lot to achieve in life. People at Akshaya Patra are telling me they are proud of me. I sincerely thank Akshaya patra for the tasty meal that came everyday without fail and for the scholarship. I can imagine how much more difficult it would have been for me otherwise.