There is no denying the fact that the Coronavirus pandemic has brought a standstill to many small businesses. Among the hardest hit are the ones which are in the restaurant and food industry. Street food vendors and roadside stalls are left with little or no earnings, with people largely dependent on their savings for their everyday needs. Amidst the crisis, a video on social media has given a ray of hope to one such food stall.
Baba Ka Dhaba is a 30-year-old food stall in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, that is run by an elderly couple. The couple have been struggling to earn due to the ongoing pandemic. Their plight was brought to the forefront by food blogger Gaurav Wasan in a video that went viral on social media. Take a look:
After a video featuring the teary-eyed owners of #BabaKaDhaba in #MalviyaNagar went viral and was shared by the likes of @ReallySwara, & @TandonRaveena, the small eatery is seeing such large crowds that they sold out all their food in the morning itself#BabaKaDaba #SupportLocal pic.twitter.com/XsP68y0dZZ
— Delhi Times (@DelhiTimesTweet) October 8, 2020
In the video, the owner of the stall, 80-year-old Kanta Prasad explains how they are barely managing to make ends meet due to reduced footfall. He showed the dishes such as Dal, Paneer Matar and Aloo Soya which are reasonably priced in the range of Rs.30 to 50. While explaining his condition to the food blogger and when the latter tried to console him, the owner broke into tears.
Food blogger Gaurav Wasan told NDTV, “When I came here yesterday I had goosebumps on listening to their plight. They had earned barely Rs.70 a day. They had come at 6:30 am to set up the shop and had spent Rs.500 but even after lunchtime they had earned only Rs.70. So I decided to record and share the video to help them. I am overwhelmed with the kind of support that he has received since then. It is great that there are so many people who want to help this man struggling due to poverty.”
The hashtag #BabakaDhaba is one of the topmost trends on Indian Twitter.
Several celebrities also reached out to find out how they could help out and do their bit for the stall owner. Take a look at the reactions:
https://twitter.com/VasundharaTankh/status/1313881005179064320?s=20
I am not able to message you, but is there a way I can help that man?? I would like to contribute.
— Ashwin
(@ashwinravi99) October 7, 2020
https://twitter.com/Soumyadipta/status/1313910672724381696?s=20
Let’s help put their smile back … our neighbour hood vendors need our help to
. https://t.co/X4RNcYOA9w
— Suniel Shetty (@SunielVShetty) October 8, 2020
Wooohoooo!
Twitter can do good too!
#BabaKaDhaba #MalviyaNagar https://t.co/yyJNbJwGhy
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) October 8, 2020
The extent of help pouring in for #BABAKADHABA
A donor just came and handed over Rs 10,000 in cash to him and left@ndtv https://t.co/2bxEKW0OEq pic.twitter.com/v9FZR7EuaY
— Sukirti Dwivedi (@SukirtiDwivedi) October 8, 2020
Many people are happy to see smiling faces of the elderly couple , internet has been used for benefit of someone and it has proved that social media has the power to make anybody’s life beautiful
