‘Baba Ka Dhaba’ is a classic example of the true power of social media. In a stunning display of humanity, Netizens had joined hands to keep the elderly couple’s food stall named ‘Baba Ka Dhaba’ in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar afloat. After trending for two-days, Baba Ka Dhaba is now on Zomato. The elderly owners of the dhaba, who, until a day before were struggling to make ends meet are now busy handling the horde of customers queuing up outside the small eatery, all thanks to the citizens’ initiative.
UPDATE: baba ka dhaba is now listed on zomato and our team is working with the elderly couple there to enable food deliveries
— zomato india (@ZomatoIN) October 8, 2020
thank you to the good people of the internet for bringing our attention to this ❤️
It all started with a netizen putting out a heartbreaking video of the teary-eyed dhaba owner speaking on his plight on the internet and urging people to come forward to help them. The video went viral and by the next morning, social media was flooded with a video of this elderly couple from Malviya Nagar, New Delhi. “Baba Ka Dhaba” started trending on Twitter.
In these two days, so many people have come forward to help 80-year-old Kanta Prasad and his wife Badami Devi, that the meaning of life has completely changed for the elderly couple. Least had they thought that one video would bring them so much love and support.
“There was no choice. I had to like her and she had to love me back”, Baba Ka Dhaba owner shares snippets of his life
Expressing gratitude towards all those who have showered their love and support onto the elderly couple, Kanta Prasad shares snippets of his life. Kanta Prasad who has been running this food stall since 1988 with his wife Badami Devi, originally hails from Uttar Pradesh. He moved to Delhi when he was 21. Interestingly, the elderly couple were married when Kanta Prasad was five and his wife was just thee-years-old.
“There was no choice we had. I had to like her and she had to love me back. It is like a ‘mohar’, we were stamped for a lifetime for one another at the age of 5. Whoever it would have been, I would have loved,” Prasad was quoted as saying.
Prasad started to work as a fruit seller and as time passed and old age started gripping him, he moved to the food business. “Our start was very slow, we were able to earn enough to meet the requirement and this process lasted for about 30 years. Yesterday, when I saw a crowd of people, leaders, actors and famous people, I was overwhelmed. I used to dream about this at the age of 21 and in the last day I saw my dreams come true”, a delighted Kanta Prasad claimed: “God does listen to you”.
“Not now, but may be at 30, 40,50 or even at my age-80. But one day whatever you had wished for, with honesty would come to life making you dream further.”
Prasad says he wishes to live longer now, with his wife as the pillar. “She learnt quickly how to pose for the camera, I took some time! But now we want to go to the shop, have someone work for us like the rich people do and I will take her out for a ‘chai’ like our younger days! This seems just the beginning,” he says.
For the entire day on Thursday, people thronged the place in large numbers to help the elderly couple through rough times. Prasad’s eatery bustled with people ordering food, tea, placing bulk orders. Some even volunteered to wait tables for the elderly couple as they expected the place to get a lot of customers after the viral video on social media. By the end of the day, the dhaba got listed on Zomato too.
