Meet home chefs who are cooking free meals for COVID patients
When any crisis strikes, what reigns supreme is how the community rises to the occasion, how humanity unfolds. A growing number of home chefs, cooks, helpful neighbours are coming together in West Bengal offering to feed COVID-19 patients and their caregivers in home isolation as well as hospitals. And many of these meals come for free! They started on very simple terms, just cook and send the home cooked tiffin to feed unwell neighbours. What started as a small venture, has now ended up preparing several meals a day after getting calls from various localities.
Many such Samaritans like Srabasti have come forward by providing free meals to Covid patients. Six students of class XII of South City International School have inspired a large number of students in the city to join hands and send free meals to such patients who are not in a position to cook physically.
Take for example youngster Srabasti Ghosh. “An order was given by a particular Covid patient one day, but the delivery boy couldn’t find the person in his house, he came back with the food and we felt terribly sad for not being able to provide meal to that person. Later we were informed that after the order for the meal was given unfortunately the patient was admitted to the hospital for emergency medical need. Such incidents leave us behind feeling miserable sometimes and increases our urge to help more,” says Srabasti.
Srabasti and her family are residents of Bagbazar - Rajballabh Para area and have been providing home-cooked meals to those who have been under home isolation since last few weeks. They have been taking as many as 44 orders a day. “We have taken a motto and we will try our best to provide free food to the people who give us desperate calls asking for meals. Food is an important part of the recovery process for a COVID patient, so we wanted to make sure that we not only provide fresh, home cooked meals, but also take care that those meals are less spicy, rich in proteins and are nutritious,” adds Ghosh.
When asked if they are taking payments for those Covid infected families that can actually pay, Srabasti replies, “At present in this war like situation we do not have time to think about these matters, we are providing food to all without any analysis or monetary expectation. Our only wish is that they recover quickly and stay satisfied.” But there are people who want to pay and not accept free meal. To them Srabasti suggested to first eat the food and then recover, after that if they wish they can donate happily.
“We all will definitely cross this difficult time but if we take initiative to help each other in small groups in different ways, the pressure will not fall on one, but will benefit all. To create a support system is very necessary,” Srabasti says with conviction.
Srabasti and her family are residents of Bagbazar - Rajballabh Para area and have been providing home-cooked meals to those who have been under home isolation since last few weeks. They have been taking as many as 44 orders a day. “We have taken a motto and we will try our best to provide free food to the people who give us desperate calls asking for meals.
Many such Samaritans like Srabasti have come forward by providing free meals to Covid patients. Six students of class XII of South City International School have inspired a large number of students in the city to join hands and send free meals to such patients who are not in a position to cook physically. ‘Send A Meal’ initiative was floated through text messages on social media and soon attracted participation from more students from other schools.
Thirty nine-year-old home chef Sujata Rampuria of Park Street said, “My friend and neighbour was down with Covid-19. I helped her out. That is the time we realized that this should be done for more people.” Today she cooks lunch and dinner with the help of her husband and friends and delivers to the homes of Covid patients free of cost. While Saheli and Damayanti Bhadra, a mother-daughter duo from Baripur have taken up the task of cooking nutritious meals for COVID-19 patients in their area for free. They get it delivered with the help of a bunch of volunteers. “When the deadlier second wave hit us, the terror, mayhem, and deaths disturbed me to my core. Then we decided to cook and deliver - in our limited capacity - to as many people as we possibly can," explained Saheli. “The only way the patients can pay us is by getting well soon. That’s our payment,” she added.
Its said God gives us two square meals a day, even to the poorest of poor. But here we find some God sent humans feeding the weak and affected, in many cases completely free of cost. Can there be any other incarnation of the Supreme? Well, probably not!
