Stoneham, MA, June 13, 2012 – To commemorate the billionth meal to be served by Akshaya
Patra in August, 2012, the legendary lyricist Javed Akthar and India’s iconic singer Shankar
Mahadevan are partnering to create music that will celebrate the joys of childhood and help
Akshaya Patra raise awareness about its program to enable hunger- free education.
The lyrics for this special song will be composed by Javed Akthar and sung by noted singer
and composer Shankar Mahadevan. The music, accompanied by a video featuring Mahadevan,
will launch in the month of August when Akshaya Patra will be serving their billionth meal.
According to Shankar the music will be poetic and will have a melody that lingers.
With this partnership, Mahadevan is joining the league of socially conscious celebrities by
becoming the brand ambassador for The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
He will help celebrate the momentous occasion by performing at a special function to be held in
Bangalore. Mahadevan will pay tribute to the midday meals provided by Akshaya Patra and focus
on the joys of childhood where children have fewer worries and responsibilities and do not have
to worry about their next morsel.
Commenting on Akshaya Patra’s mission; no child shall be deprived of education because of
hunger, the singer said, “I am very happy to be associated with Akshaya Patra as the cause is very
close to my heart and something that I have always wanted to do – feed children.”
The Akshaya Patra Foundation runs one of the world’s largest mid day school feeding programs,
in partnership with the federal and participating state governments of India, serving over 1.3
million children daily, in over 9,000 schools in 10 states.
Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to
deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. It
costs Akshaya Patra only $15 to feed a child for an entire year. This meal gives these children an
incentive to come to school, stay in school and provides them with the necessary nutrients they
need to develop their cognitive abilities to focus on learning.
Madhu Sridhar, President and CEO of Akshaya Patra USA, commented:
“Javed Akthar and Shankar Mahadevan teaming up for the Akshaya Patra children – it will be a
powerful message with a powerful voice to ensure hunger is not a barrier to education for these
deserving children. We hope that Mahadevan will spread Akshaya Patra’s mission across the
world through his performances to touch hearts and expand the Akshaya Patra family. “
Akshaya Patra, a grassroots organization, is continuously working on building support in
communities all across USA through Akshaya Patra chapters. To learn more about Akshaya Patra
please visit www.foodforeducation.org
About Javed Akhtar and Shankar Mahadevan
Javed Akhtar’s lineage can be traced back to seven
generations of famous Urdu poets, writers and freedom fighters. His father, renowned Urdu poet
Jan Nisar Akhtar, mother famous Urdu writer Safia Akhtar and uncle, noted Urdu poet Majaaz
were amongst the pioneers of the Progressive Writers Association.
Javed Akhtar’s body of work can be categorized under four distinct categories; script writer,
lyricist, poet and activist. He has co-authored and written several super hit Hindi films such as
Zanjeer, Sholay, and Sagar.
Shanker Mahadevan achieved worldwide fame with his album ‘Breathless’, is part of the
talented trio popularly known as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and who has sung and composed music for
many famous Bollywood films.
Mahadevan hails from a middle-class background and is a software engineer by education. He
has teamed up successfully with some of world’s most extraordinary talent and has won three
National Awards, and three Filmfare Awards.
