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When the Kerala government on Tuesday revised the food menu at anganwadis in the state, prompted by a viral video featuring them, three-year-old Trijal S Sundhar and his mother, Ashwathy, were taken by surprise.
Shanku, as Trijal is fondly known, turns four next month and lives with his family at their home at Prayar North in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. He had joined the Khasheriel anganwadi at Devikulangara panchayat in Alappuzha last year.
In a video recorded by Ashwathy on January 26 at their home, Shanku is heard telling his mother, “I want biryani and chicken fry at the anganwadi instead of upma.” Ashwathy posted the video on Instagram, and it went viral in the following weeks. It even came to the notice of Kerala Health, Women and Child Welfare Minister Veena George, who said the government would consider Shanku’s suggestions and revise the food menu at anganwadis. On Tuesday, she kept her promise and unveiled the revised menu, which included egg biryani and pulao.
After hearing the news that he had been instrumental in introducing the new menu, Shanku said in a video on Tuesday, “Thank you, Minister Aunty, I have seen the news.”
Ashwathy said the family were surprised by the decision. “Although the minister had promised to review the menu, we did not expect such a decision in such a short period of time. We are all happy. Next month, we are planning to enrol him in lower primary class,” she said. Her husband, Somasundhar, works in Qatar.
On the famous video, Ashwathy said, “I had recorded the video when he was eating biryani. I used to take short videos, showing different moments in his life in Kerala to share with his father, who is in Qatar. We have a lot of videos, right from when he was a toddler, showing various stages of his growth. The video of him eating his favourite biryani was one such happy moment that we shared on Instagram.” “He was not happy about having upma day after day. Children are happy when they get a variety of food. His favourite items are biryani and kanji-payar (rice and green gram porridge),” she said.
As per the new food menu for anganwadis, children will have milk, pidi (balls made of rice flour), and kozhukkatta (a steamed sweet made from rice flour, coconut and jaggery) for breakfast on Mondays. At noon, they will get rice, green gram curry, spinach, and payasam. On Tuesday, the menu comprises nutri laddu for breakfast, egg biryani/pulao, fruit cup and ragi ada (a pancake made of finger millet). On other days, the menu comprises soya dry fry, idli, sambar, puttu, omelette, and a mix of rice flakes with jaggery and banana.
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