Welsh cake in Topsia and rasmalai in Wales; visitors spend a day with city women
Telegraph | 1 April 2025
A group of women from the slums of Calcutta have learnt to make cakes the way they are made in Wales.
The women did not learn from social media. A group of young people who came from Wales taught them how to bake.
And in return, they taught them to make rasmalai cake.
The group of 12 women from Wales were in the city for a two-week volunteering trip recently. They spent time with NGOs working with women, youth and children from underprivileged backgrounds.
The two weeks were about an exchange of Indian and Welsh languages, cultures over music, art and games.
The Welsh women spent a day at a bakery in Topsia where women — whose husbands are mostly daily wage workers — learn how to bake cakes and cookies, a programme introduced by the NGO Ek Tara.
The women from Wales are part of a youth organisation called Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
“We spoke different languages but we communicated well and were able to understand each other,” said Purnima Bhattacharya of Ek Tara.
The interaction with the Welsh women was a new experience for these women, who perhaps have not stepped out of Calcutta.
Asiana Khatoon, 38, was in awe of one of the young Welsh women who was straight out of school.
“She is so young and has travelled independently from one part of the world to another. I wish I could do the same,” said the mother of two daughters.
Such exchanges give them exposure and create aspirations in them, said Shuvasree Biswas, executive programme manager, Ek Tara.
“Many of them do not have a voice, having been brought up and living in a patriarchal set up. But experiences such as these help them to find a voice and understand the importance of financial independence. It gets them to think and makes them want to step outside the stereotypes that they have become so used to ,” said Biswas.
The collaboration between the Welsh organisation and Calcutta-based NGOs has been ongoing for over two decades.
In another NG0, the participants from Calcutta and the Welsh volunteers engaged in a language exchange programme.
“We strongly believe in creating international links and broadening the horizons of young Welsh people. Taking a group of young women to India to support the humanitarian work in Calcutta is a meaningful journey and experience,” said Sian Lewis, chief executive of Urdd Gobaith Cymru.
In Calcutta, Reshma Begum said the next delicacy for a birthday in her neighbourhood would be Welsh cake.
“They learnt the rasamalai cake from us and said they will try it once they go back to their country. And I will try the Welsh cake,” said Reshma.