Delhiites rushed to the aide of Baba Ka Dhaba, a roadside eatery run by an elderly couple, after a heart-wrenching video shared by a Twitter user named Gaurav Wasan went viral.
In this video, the owners of the eatery are seen tearing up, and explaining how they were struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. The video showed the owner Prasad’s wife cooking Rotis as he says that they are not even able to sell 750 grams of rice and half a kilogram of dal in a day. He went on to say that half a plate of dal costs ₹30. When Wasan asks how much they are able to earn, Prasad takes out some notes of ₹10 from a drawer.
The video had gone viral across social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Shortly after, several netizens came forward to ask for the details of the couple so that they could help. A lot of celebrities like Ravichandran Ashwin and Sonam Kapoor have also retweeted it and offered to provide monetary aid to this couple. AAP MLA Somnath Bharti who visited the couple today tweeted, “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.”
So guys I went to #MalviyaNagar and found these very old couple working hard to earn a living, when I went there and saw them struggling, I couldn't stop but cried. They said they start early at 6.30 am and by 1.30 am they could only earn Rs 60/- #VocalForLocal pic.twitter.com/avyXXVaMF2
— Gaurav Wasan (@gauravwasan08) October 8, 2020
Several politicians and prominent personalities soon came to Baba ka Dhaba. In a few hours, there was a serpentine queue outside the eatery.
Now, Zomato has listed Baba ka Dhaba in its app/website for taking orders and the team is wokring with the elderly 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
Tinder too endorsed Baba ka Dhaba by asking people to choose the spot for their next date.
We recommend #BabaKaDhabha for your next date 🔥
— Tinder India (@Tinder_India) October 8, 2020
Councilor of Malviya Nagar Dr. Nandini Sharma of the BJP handed over and helped them fill the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme forms that will provide them with ₹10,000.
Provided the PM street vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) form to Baba at #BabaKaDhaba which gives ₹10,000 for street vendors. Let’s educate more such people about the government schemes and empower their lives.@narendramodi @AmitShah @JPNadda pic.twitter.com/vNzdM3j82A
— Dr. Nandini Sharma (@DrNandiniBJP) October 8, 2020