New Delhi: Veni Das used to run a south Indian food stall at Lady Shri Ram College in the national capital until March last year, when a sudden lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 and the resultant closure of the colleges rendered her jobless.
Das’ only son, who was working with a hotel, was also laid off and stayed unemployed for a few months. She was left dependent on her savings and donations from LSR students, Das told ThePrint.
But a bunch of enterprising students have now come forward to help the 60-year-old, popularly known as ‘Veni Aunty’, in establishing an online food business via Instagram. The students have created a page on the social media platform for Das and are helping her sell her homemade south Indian delicacies, delivered locally through a courier service.
“The kids were helping me go through the crisis. They used to send me some money when I had no work or means to feed my family,” said the East Of Kailash resident, who lives with her son, daughter-in-law and a granddaughter.
The students of the Delhi University college then figured a more sustainable idea to assist Das in the long run.
“We contacted Veni aunty in the first week of June after seeing a fundraising message being circulated in the college groups. We proposed to her the idea of starting her own food business and she was very excited,” said a student who was involved in the initiative but didn’t wish to be named.
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‘South Indian Aunty’ is now up and running
The online venture titled ‘South Indian Aunty’ started five days ago, and has received a good response so far, the students said.
“The numbers of orders vary, so there is no fixed income, but we are receiving at least 10 to 15 orders a day from Delhi-NCR,” the student quoted above said.
The Instagram page called ‘Veni Aunty’ has gained over 800 followers in just five days. A reel posted from the page in which Das thanked students and appealed to customers to buy her food has been viewed by over 10,000 people.
Das said she is quite relieved now, and hopes for a sustained sale in the coming days.
“I used to earn around Rs 1,000 (per day) when I was running my stall in the college campus for the past six years. Since this venture has started, I have been earning somewhere around Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 per day,” she said.
“I worry about how I will manage in the future when these kids will get busy with classes as I don’t know anything. These girls have been taking care of everything until now and I am very grateful to them,” she added.
How it works
The menu currently has four items — vada sambar, idli sambar, lemon rice and sambar rice — all of which are priced at Rs 60. The orders are managed by a team of seven-eight students via Instagram, who direct it to Das.
The food is delivered across Delhi-NCR using WeFast courier as the share for food delivery apps is beyond the budget. The delivery costs around Rs 40 to 50 in the Greater Kailash and Lajpat Nagar areas, and vary depending on the location.
All the collections go directly to Das’ account.
Asked how the students will manage to run the venture with their academic commitments, they say they will do it as long as they can, and will eventually figure out a way to transfer it to Das.
“Her granddaughter is in school and she understands such stuff, so we will train her and aunty so that they can take charge of this business in the future,” a second student said.
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