Michelin star Chef Vikas Khanna’s Utsav, sold at Rs 30 lakh
Costliest cookbook ever, to raise funds for children of Smile Foundation through#milliondolla
Rasesh Kanakia of Kanakia Group joined hands with Vikas Khanna and Smile Foundation to support underprivileged Children
Today, on the successful completion of #milliondollar4nutrition, aninitiative by Smile Foundation’s global ambassador, Michelin star Chef Vikas Khanna, Rasesh Kanakia of the Kanakia group joined hands withIndia’s leading NGO Smile Foundation, to eradicate malnutrition in the country.
As a part of his commitment, Master Chef Vikas Khanna gave away the 12th edition of his premium handcrafted cookbook Utsav – a culinary epic of Indian festivals, for auction.
Speaking on this occasion chef Vikas Khanna said, “Today i.e 14th Feb, is my beloved late Father’s Birthday and I am proud that this has become more significant for me, am very proud to share that the 12th copy was sold to Rasesh Kanakia at an auction. The opening price of the bidding was Rs. 800000 and the book is finally being sold at Rs 3 million. It is very heartwarming to see that how a book is so treasured to reach this benchmark. This will be the highest in the history of cookbooks and most importantly, the funds raised will feed 2,00,000 meals to kids through Smile Foundation. It feeds the future of our Nation”. He further added, saying, “I have been working with Smile Foundation for the last 4 years and we have been able to address nutrition needs of underprivileged children through various fund raisers and advocacy programs. Smile Foundation is supporting the nutrition program in 25 states in India. One third of the world’s malnourished children live in India and we are #3 on the Global Hunger Index, only behind Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is not “new” news. We see it everyday – on the roads, at traffic junctions when we see children begging for basic needs – food, survival. In Feb 2016, I had personally pledged to raise USD1 Million for the cause and I am glad.”
Utsav weighs around 15 kilos and has 1,200 pages full of Indian festivals, ceremonies, rituals and sacred ingredients and has been presented to many prominent figures such as Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, former US presidents Mr. Barack Obama, Mr. Bill Clinton and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Former US Secretary of State Ms Hillary Clinton also received the book, Utsav, considered as an exquisite work of art with its cover and box hand-painted in 24-Carat Gold.
Vikas Khanna joined hands with Smile Foundation three years back to support itsNutritionforEducation program where he pledged to raise USD one million to support the cause. Since then he has been supporting Smile Foundation events like Cook for a Smile, Dine with Smile, Charity dinners to achieve the number. The efforts got further boosted with Mr.Rasesh Kanakia, chairman- Kanakia Group, joining hands with Smile Foundation to support the cause by acquiring a copy of Utsav, the proceeds of which (Rs 30 lakh) will be supporting the cause of NutritionforEducation program.
Malnutrition among children is one of the major problems of our country. To mitigate this problem, Smile Foundation’s nutrition programme has been providing, over many years, both direct nutrition interventions and a broad range of “nutrition sensitive” interventions addressing the determinants of malnutrition. The project has been designed to address the issue of malnutrition and enable behavioural change regarding proper child care and proper dietary practices in two phases: a) Nutrition Support: Catering to nutritional needs of the underprivileged children, and b) Nutrition Awareness: Sensitizing the underprivileged communities towards the issue of malnutrition amongst children, mothers and family members. Currently, Smile Foundation’s Nutrition initiative is benefiting children in 25 states in India.
About Smile Foundation:
Smile Foundation is a national level development organisation benefiting over 400,000 underprivileged children, their families and the community directly through 158 welfare projects on subjects such as education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families and the community.
