On a sunny Saturday morning, Bhopalites witnessed a vibrant gathering of eco-conscious people at Gandhi Bhavan.
It was the beginning of Anant Mahotsav, the first anniversary celebration of Anant Mandi — Bhopal's Organic Farmers' Market.
A year ago, Anant Mandi was started by two youth groups named Anant and Go Rurban, which aimed to raise awareness of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle in the city. Along with this, their aim was also to bring the organic farmers and consumers together on a platform so that the people of the city can get a better understanding of healthy foods and organic farming.
During this one year, Anant Mandi has created a community of farmers, youth and people who believe in the idea of a sustainable lifestyle. Anant Mandi has organized 17 farmers' markets in the past one year. With this, the milestone is being celebrated as a 2-day event, named Anant Mahotsav on 14 and 15 March.
On the first day of Anant Mahotsav, there were many engaging activities that happened throughout the day. In the farmers' market, organic farmers from various districts came with a wide variety of products like vegetables, grains, pulses, dairy products, oils, soaps, and personal care products.
Huge number of people from across the city came to buy healthy and organic products and also interacted with the farmers.
The food corner - “Sabki Rasoi” got an amazing response from the crowd where a creative assortment of homemade foods using organic ingredients was brought to them.
Apart from this, following workshops were conducted on diverse themes, like - “Food Affects Mood” facilitated by Rajna Pardasani, an “Upcycling” workshop facilitated by Alpna Jha, book discussion session for children facilitated by Eklavya and “Natural Soap Making” session with Somya Jain and Vaibhav Dewal. These workshops were enthusiastically attended by a huge number of people; inquisitive and excited to know more about sustainability and healthy lifestyle.
In addition to this, a panel discussion was organised on the significance of organic farming and how one can to switch and practice organic farming. The youth team at Anant Mandi has also organised an art space in which a painting exhibition was organised on the theme "Ecological Diversity". Adla-Badli - a swap sale - to encourage the habit of exchanging items rather than buying new things in the community was another eye-catcher of the event.