New Delhi: Social media has the power to change lives, and the latest example is an elderly couple in Delhi whose Baba Ka Dhaba in Malviya Nagar has now been listed by Zomato for online food delivery.
This happened after a video, of the man in tears about being unable to make ends meet, went viral. The app Wednesday shared on its Twitter account that its team is working with the couple to enable food deliveries.
UPDATE: baba ka dhaba is now listed on zomato and our team is working with the elderly couple there to enable food deliveries
thank you to the good people of the internet for bringing our attention to this ❤️
— zomato india (@ZomatoIN) October 8, 2020
Kanta Prasad, 80, and Badami Devi have been running the food joint in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar for around 30 years. But their business was hit hard during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Even after restrictions were lifted, they found that they were just not able to draw in customers.
Enter Gaurav Wasan, a food journalist with his own YouTube channel, Swad Official. Aiming to crowdsource funds for the couple, he posted the 11-minute video on his YouTube account and a four-minute snippet on his Instagram account on 7 October. The Instagram video has been seen by more than 2 crore people, and the YouTube one has garnered more than 3 lakh views.
The video was also shared by celebrities, including actors Raveena Tandon, Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhasker, and AAP’s Somnath Bharti, who even visited the dhaba the next day.
.@RICHA_LAKHERA .@VasundharaTankh .@sohitmishra99 .@sakshijoshii .@RifatJawaid .@ShonakshiC .@TheDeshBhakt Visited "Baba Ka Dhaba" n hv done d needful to bring SMILE on their faces as promised. Will take care of them n I am starting a drive 2 take care of similarly placed people. pic.twitter.com/S9A94AmJxK
— Adv. Somnath Bharti (@attorneybharti) October 8, 2020
#बाबाकाढाबा #dilliwalon #dil #dikhao. Whoever eats here, sends me pic, I shall put up a sweet message with your pics ! ♥️ #supportlocalbusiness #localvendors https://t.co/5DH73wz3SD
— Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) October 8, 2020
दिल्ली! चलो ‘बाबा का ढाबा’ पर मटर पनीर खाते हैं! मालवीय नगर में! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽💜💜💜 #SupportSmallBusinesses #VocalForLocal #ShowHeart https://t.co/khus7WJMB8
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) October 7, 2020
From barely making Rs 70 a day to now selling out
The couple comes to their small eatery at 6:30 in the morning and prepares the food by 9:30 for sale. The cost of one plate is Rs 50, and it includes dal, rice, two vegetables and pickle.
In the viral video, Kanta Prasad can be seen crying as he tells Wasan that he could only sell food worth Rs 70 in the day. “After the lockdown, nobody is coming to buy from us. Our cost of preparing is Rs 400 alone,” adds Prasad. Kanta Prasad and his wife have three children, but, he says in the video, none of them supports them.
But since the video went viral, the eatery has had crowds of customers and mediapersons lined up outside, and the food has been selling out even before noon.
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Super