In a gesture of gratitude, IITGN students, faculty prepare meal for mess staff

The mess staff members, including managers, chefs, cooking assistants, serving staff, and mess housekeeping staff, were invited for lunch and were served rice, sambar, salad, medu vada, tomato chutney, poriyal, poori, aloo masala (Madras style), payasam, rasam, buttermilk, papad, and sweet in a traditional plate of banana leaf. Prof Sivapriya Kirubakaran, Dean, of Student Affairs, IIT Gandhinagar, said, “IITGN has bagged the Eat Right Campus Award with a five-star rating from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) three consecutive times. This has been made possible also because of the hard work of our mess staff and managers of our dining facilities, who provide us with hygienic, healthy, and timely meals throughout the year. This is a small initiative to show our gratitude towards all of them.”

The mess staff said they felt honoured. Harish Thapa, a chef in one of the dining messes at IITGN, said, “I felt really nice to meet the higher authorities and eat a meal served by them with so much affection like a family member. The food was delicious. This kind of gesture by the Institute makes us feel at home.”

Kanchanben Bihola, cleaning staff in one of the dining messes, said, “It was a rare experience for us to get to eat the lunch made and served by the Director, the Dean, and other students and staff members. We felt that people here care for us.”