Buy these Diwali hampers to add your contribution for women's skill-building programmes

Nilima Chavan and Sangeeta Kamble

A gift that keeps on giving is one that not only uplifts the receiver, but also the community. This is why for Diwali - it's never too early to start preparations - we suggest getting the Boxes Of Goodness gift hampers curated by Cooked By Moms, a social enterprise that works with women across Mumbai for their financial independence.

The community's curated series of gift hampers and its profits support women's empowerment and skill-building programmes. The series comprises a list of gifting solutions with breakfast, snacking, kiddie, chocolate, tea and coffee hampers tailored to all occasions. Today, they launch their Diwali hampers of three sizes from Rs 1,900 onwards, complete with Kashmiri kesar, stuffed dates, a variety of honey packs, chocolate, cookies and candles sourced from women-led start-ups, farm-to-table initiatives, not-for-profits and socially responsible and eco-conscious brands. They offer vegan, Jain and gluten-free options as well as customisation and collaboration on bulk orders. Adding to its goodness, the box package cuts down on wasteful cardboard and plastic packaging with low or zero-waste hampers. Founder Namrata Tanna tells us that the soft launch during Raksha Bandhan surpassed their expected sales of 25 boxes by selling approximately 200 hampers in little over a week.

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Home chefs Namrata Tanna and her colleague, Tabassum Mulani

Launched in 2018, Cooked By Moms works with mahila mandals and underprivileged communities to create employment opportunities for women. Tanna informs that upon examination of the many skills that women possess, they noticed that cooking was one that when leveraged, could turn the unpaid work by homemakers into a source of income. The initiative began by championing the work of home chefs and expanding their tiffin services that functioned within a limited circle of customers in their locality through food pop-ups and events. The idea was not to just showcase the food upfront, but also the women who make it. Apart from financial independence, having the home chefs interact with their customers helped them move out of the house to different spaces, mostly offices, that offered better exposure and built their confidence. "Watching them speak with customers and feel a sense of pride, dignity and excitement is definitely an intangible measure of achievement," Tanna notes.

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Their latest pop-up was held on September 6 for Teachers' Day at JBCN International School, Chembur. However, when work-from-home set-ups took over during the pandemic, and pop-ups in office spaces were no longer possible, the initiative shifted its focus to expand the reach of women's tiffin services. They launched The Mumbai Home Chef Community, listing verified services for delicious home-cooked meals. Even as pop-ups have resumed, the listing remains functional today and has an added scope for interested home chefs to add their services to the repository of the community.

Women and mothers are untapped sources of power that can drive society to a better future whether in terms of climate action, social and political change, or other aspects. To empower society, we must empower - what the initiative calls - the mommy economy. Backing this with proof, Tanna shares, "One of the moms was planning to get her daughter married but after a few months of hosting pop-ups in office spaces, she decided to plan for her daughter to study further, saying that the women working in these offices were just like her daughter and that her daughter has the potential to do so, too."

Log on to Boxes Of Goodness on Swiggy Mini (pre-order Diwali hampers till October 15); cookedbymoms.com
Call 9820290764

Boxed for good

Diwali hampers available in three sizes:
Mini at Rs 1,900
Just Right at Rs 2,900
Indulgent at Rs 3,900

Breakfast hamper
Chai and coffee mixes, pancake mix, millet porridge, vegan muesli, honey, peanut butter, cereal cookies
and other goodies.

Chocolate hamper
Variety of chocolate bars, dragées, hot chocolate, cocoa nibs, chilli chocolate demerara sugar, caramel spread and more.

Chai hamper
Mix of loose tea leaves and instant mixes, iced tea sachets, nankhatais and biscuits, chocolate and other goodies.

Home chef community

. Druti's Trupt - Maa ke haath ka khaana
Delivery across Mumbai
Cost Rs 200 onwards
Call 9967108010

. Sounica Pathak's Tralata vegan guilt-free food
Delivery across Mumbai
Cost Rs 250 onwards
Call 9136003677

. Caked in India by Namrata Pursnani
Delivery across Mumbai
Cost Rs 175 onwards
Call 7506056804