A lunch extravaganza, tribal style

A unique lunch experience offers Mumbaikars a chance to enjoy a specially prepared meal with the Warli tribe — well within city limits.

Caught up with the daily grind of home-to-office life, many a Mumbaikar misses out on the natural heritage that the city has to offer, with a forest right in the middle of civilisation. Not only are these woodlands home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, but they are also home to the Warli tribe of Maharashtra. The forest in and around Aarey Colony alone has around 27 hamlets, while Sanjay Gandhi National Park holds several more, according to Cassandra Nazareth, project coordinator at the WWH Charitable Foundation. She has been working with this tribe since February this year, with the aim to improve their living conditions and empowering the population, especially the women. With this in mind, she has also taken to organising special tribal lunches, where Mumbai’s urban populace can interact with the Warli tribe in Aarey and find out more about their culture, food and art. Their next interactive lunch is set to take place on August 28.

“The Warli are mostly an agricultural tribe, who worship elements of nature. This is reflected in their artwork, which consist of natural motifs,” says Cassandra. “Some hamlets, which are located closer to civilisation are like your regular slums, but others — located deeper in the forest — are more primitive. We have started nutrition and health programs for them, and have been able to crowdfund a domestic chakki for making flour for one of the hamlets,” she adds.

While she has been working with the tribe as a whole, the interactive tribal lunch mainly aims at empowering the women and the youth of the community. “Along with the lunch, there will be a live display of their artwork and a small kiosk where they will be selling their art, as well as the fresh herbs that they grow in the villages,” explains Cassandra. “There will also be a tour of the Aarey Colony forestland, guided by the tribal youth, as a way of educating the average Mumbaikar about the rich natural heritage of the city,” she adds. The lunch itself, according to the project-manager, will include typical tribal delicacies cooked with fresh herbs, as opposed to processed masalas.

Cassandra is certain that the lunches will have a positive impact on both the guests and the tribal people. “I have had industrialists and corporate businessmen come to offer help after they came for these lunches and saw the conditions these people are living in,” she says. She elaborates that there is a project in the works for digging more wells, and one to refurbish the solar lights in the region. However, Cassandra is quick to add that a certain level of caution needs to be maintained: “It is always best to pre-book well in advance for these events. I once had a rather large group of people drop in and the people of the hamlet were quite overwhelmed, since they are not used to such large numbers.” WWH Charitable Foundation has organised the tribal lunch on August 28, from 10 am onwards. Meeting point: Khambacha Pada, Aarey Unit 25, Goregaon (E) Contact: 9820224450.