Civil Society News Gurgaon

When the temperature rises, its time to bake in the sun. On a warm Saturday morning the Advit Foundation offered a solar cooking session for three hours. Cooking enthusiasts arrived to watch as solar chefs rustled up a variety of dishes made with natural heat.

The venue was the Rajiv Gandhi Park for Renewable Energy in Gurgaon which is being managed by the Advit Foundation, a non-profit devoted to environment conservation and livelihood skills.

Tables and benches were laid out under shady trees. Four types of solar cookers were on display. The first was SK-14, a round cooker which looked like a dish antenna. The second had a longish box with two mirrors and four wheels. It was invented by an architect, Suresh Vaidyarajan, who turned up to demonstrate its effectiveness. The third was a regular solar box cooker with mirrors but with more space. The last one, invented by Navdanya, was a twisted affair made of cardboard and foil and cost just Rs 100. “I use it when I go trekking,” said Kishen from Navdanya.

Remember for solar cooking there are a couple of implements you need to keep handy. A pair of gloves is essential, so you don't burn your hands. You can't use any old vessel to cook in either, since the sun might sizzle its bottom. Vessels of the Futura brand are recommended. Most importantly, please wear sunglasses while cooking. All those glinting mirrors and dollops of bright sunshine are not a sight for sore eyes.

Solar chef of SK-14, Sudha Nautiyal, rigged up the dish antennae and twisted a knob on it several times. “This is to ensure that the sun's rays fall directly on the cooker,” she explained to mystified greenhorns. A pressure cooker was balanced in the middle. Oil, followed by onions and spices were thrown in. Rice, vegetables and water followed and voila in around 30 minutes, vegetable pulao was ready.

Nautiyal also demonstrated how kheer can be made in the solar box cooker. She assisted the architect in making bread in his long box cooker. That took the most time, but then bread-making is a protracted affair.

The deputy commissioner of Gurgaon, Rajendra Kataria, and his wife, Kalpana, came to take a look and encourage participants. Nautiyal showed them how popcorn can be made in SK-14.

Lunch finally consisted of vegetable pulao, kheer, popcorn and freshly baked bread, sampled by everybody. “Does it taste of the sun?” inquired Charu Jain, director of Advit, solicitously.

A much more elaborate menu can be rustled up, said Nautiyal. You can make idlis, dhokla, chicken curry, rajma, she said. But rotis can’t be made. Two dhabas on the national highway have bought SK-14, said Nautiyal, a solar entrepreneur. Her company, Safe Environmental Energy Devices and Systems (SEEDS), manufactures and sells SK-14. Nautiyal has sold most of her devices in rural areas. “The families are bigger and there is more space. The women suffer health problems because of wood stoves.”

Solar cookers have not caught on in urban areas though. “When I give demonstrations in cities, I find people are very interested. But that doesn’t translate into sales. People have nuclear families and not enough space, ” explained Nautiyal. The definitive solar oven for the urban housewife has not yet been invented.

But clunky solar cookers have enormous uses. Charu Jain said Advit Foundation was exploring the idea of getting women in Haryana to bake breads, biscuits, rusks and other foods for the Gurgaon market using solar cookers. No electricity would be needed and a single solar cooker can bake quite a lot. SK-14 warms up to 10 litres of water and is useful for small industries engaged in making candles, tye and dye, jam-making, sauces and so on. It costs around Rs 6,500.

Advit Foundation is also planning a natural restaurant called The Roots on its campus. And yes, they would use a solar cooker, said Iona Sinha, who will be managing the restaurant.

“The idea is to reduce the carbon footprint,” said Samit Jain, director of Advit Foundation. “We will buy local organic foods.”

Meanwhile, visit the Rajiv Gandhi Renewable Energy Park . It combines education with fun. You can watch a green film. Children get to learn about renewable energy and enjoy a ride on solar powered cars. The government of Haryana ‘outsourced' the park to Advit and it's the only one which is functioning really well.

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