The bell above the café door chimed softly. Twenty-two-year-old Kajal—70 per cent blind in one eye and visually impaired in the other—walked over to the cafe’s door, her breath caught somewhere between fear and excitement. This was her first job as a barista and she wanted to prove that there was more to her than her disability. But it wasn’t easy. Not just because of the physical challenges, customers often looked past her; some avoided eye contact altogether. She went home those nights with bruised pride. By the second week, Kajal had found her rhythm. She could make the best caramel flat white in the shop. She started to recognise regulars by their voice and often by their perfume.
The café had become her safe space—not because life was perfect, but because she had shaped it to include her. She had made herself seen. Kajal’s story of inclusivity and independence is not an offbeat example. There are many young women and men like her who have found the courage within to soldier on even after life dealt them a crushing blow. And they are supported by individuals and organisations to reinvent themselves and proudly participate in society, which was unthinkable a few years ago. Suchismita Das, assistant professor of sociology, Govt Degree College, Mangalkote, West Bengal believes acceptance is key to helping survivors or victims heal. “Accepting food served by survivors of any attack, disease, or deformity is the first step towards helping in the process of normalising their lives. Our need for an illusory idea of ‘perfection’ in our consumption often prevents us from accepting food from the survivors of trauma,” she says.
As far as clients are concerned, accepting food from a differently abled person carries a profound message of dignity and inclusion. It transcends the act of simply receiving sustenance and becomes a gesture of mutual respect and recognition of equal worth. It also shows how much Gen Z has changed the national conscience in a country like India, where food is the ultimate line to be crossed, accepting it from persons or communities from the other side of the spectrum places them on an equal footing. Also, for many differently abled individuals, preparing or serving food is a powerful expression of independence and contribution—their values and capabilities break stereotypes and promote a sense of belonging. It fosters empathy and solidarity. It sends a message that everyone has something to offer, and everyone deserves to be seen and valued for who they are—not for what they lack.
The decision by Kallol Ghosh from Kolkata to open a cafe run by HIV-positive people was met with stiff resistance—most posh localities in south Kolkata refused to allot space. Café Positive finally found a spot in the Lake Terrace area. It employs HIV-positive young women and men to serve customers. Ghosh wanted to prove that they are as much a part of society as everyone else. He thought the stigma attached to AIDS needs to be dealt with visible solutions and not just campaigns. All employees working in the café are from a shelter home in Anandaghar, an address for HIV-positive people in the Gobindapur area in West Bengal. The shelter home is an initiative by an NGO called Offer, where HIV-positive teenagers abandoned by their families are trained to become chefs and servers. “We live in a hostel in Kolkata but go back to Anandaghar when we are unwell,” says 17-year-old Shameema (name changed), a HIV-positive patient who works at the café.
Too often, society underestimates or overlooks people with disabilities, focusing on limitations rather than strengths. By accepting food from a differently abled person, one challenges these biases. The idea sits pretty with Alina Alam, the founder of Bengaluru-based Mitti, a women-led non-profit that runs cafés across India. The organisation works towards economic independence and dignity for the differently abled and those from vulnerable communities.
Today, what started as a single outlet in 2018 has become a chain of 35 cafés across India—including one at Mumbai’s international airport (CSMIA)—employing more than 4,000 staff persons, who have served over 10 million meals so far. The organisation not only offers experiential training to vulnerable job seekers but also creates opportunities through ventures such as personal and corporate catering, gifting and serving karuna meals for the economically vulnerable, displaying the fact that those once perceived to be in need are helping others in need.
A 2023 Condé Nast Traveller report mentions Alam’s dream of showing the world the power of ability. “There are over 70 million people with disabilities in India alone and over a billion people with disabilities across the globe. Yet the problem is not that there are X number of people with disabilities. The problem is in the disability of our perceptions that stops us from seeing the magic in their abilities,” the report says.
Through Mitti, Alam aims to create a model that is visible, tangible, and interactive and the success or the failure of which would be directly dependent on the community. “I needed a common denominator to bind this community. That’s where food came in. Food is a denominator that binds friend to friend, a mother to a child and nations and civilisations together. The whole purpose of a Mitti Café is to sensitise the community in a way that they join the movement of inclusion in this spirit,” she says in the report.
INTOLERABLE IGNORANCE
But the more things change, the more they remain the same. A report in United Nations UN News: Global Perspective Human Stories says that despite some improvement in people’s tolerance to the disease in more than 40 years since the AIDS epidemic began, a survey of 55,000 people in 50 countries found that only one in two people knew that HIV cannot be transmitted by sharing a bathroom. Chidi King, head of the International Labour Organization says in the report, “It is shocking that, 40 years into the HIV and AIDS epidemic, myths and misconceptions are still so widespread.”
The survey mentions that the lowest tolerance for working directly with people with HIV was found in Asia and the Pacific, followed by the Middle East and North Africa.
It is not just AIDS. Jaipur-based Café Vitthal’s founder Ashish Vitthal, says it isn’t easy to run operations with differently abled people on board. “I have been running this cafe for the past 10 years. It started when I saw some people at a railway crossing near my house using sign language to communicate. First, I thought someone was being eve-teased. I went up to them and realised they were deaf and mute. It was then that I thought they could be integrated into our daily life and given a space to work and earn,” he says. Vitthal’s efforts to make his employees feel included also translates into customers getting a five-minute crash course on sign language and how to order in a certain manner to be understood by servers. “Initially it was a little overwhelming but with time people have become very comfortable being served by my staff,” he adds.
Vitthal’s café serves more than just food. They aim to fill customers with love and warmth by the time they leave, along with a full belly. As far as the menu goes, Dal tadka and Tandoori bharta with Missi roti are specialities.
Governments have been trying to do their bit to provide the differently abled with monthly financial assistance; for example, the Government of Puducherry’s ‘Grant of Financial Assistance to Differently Abled Person’ scheme under the Department of Social Welfare. It was introduced to provide monthly financial assistance to such persons to maintain their minimum standard of living. The selection is periodical and depends on the availability of funds. The benefits are:
Disability Range 40-65%: Rs 2,000 per month
Disability Range 66-85%: Rs 2,500 per month
Disability Range 86-100%: Rs 3,500 per month
This is further enhanced as the beneficiaries age:
Age Range 60-79 years: Rs 2,700 per month
Age Range 80 years and above: Rs 3,800 per month
A pittance by today’s living standards, but something is better than nothing.
MIND MATTERS
For Anees Zaidi (name changed), 32, it was a chance visit with his partner to Mumbai’s Café Arpan that changed his perspective on those with Down’s Syndrome and Autism. “The regular visits to the café, first with my partner and later with friends helped change my perspective,” says Zaidi. Café Arpan was started by Yash Charitable Trust (YCT), a city-based NGO that has been providing skill development and livelihood opportunities to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) since 2014.
Ashaita Mahajan, one of the co-founders of the café, says, “Café Arpan has been around for seven years. It was started by the Yash Charitable Trust (YCT), founded by my aunt Dr Sushama Nagarkar, an educator, a psychologist and a parent of a differently abled adult.” Mahajan’s aunt earlier lived in the US. The family moved back to India in 2013 and set up YCT in 2014. She believed that people with developmental and intellectual disabilities should get to work and live in the community of their choice with dignity and respect. “We started with Arpan Food Service, 10 years ago. It was our version of the dabba service. We had four beneficiaries (differently abled adults) to begin with; we grew to 13 in a span of two years. The space we were working out of was small and we had to think of what was next. Since our food became a hit, we thought of starting a café,” Mahajan says.
A ResearchGate report says it is estimated that 3 per cent of India’s population, or 31 million individuals, live with intellectual disabilities. But that doesn’t deter those at Café Arpan. “We have witnessed the positive attitude of people visiting us for years now. We have customers who come here since the time we started. This helps to boost the morale of the staff. We have successfully been able to achieve what we aspired for,” says Mahajan.
Dr Jaya Sukul, HOD, clinical psychology QRG Medicare and Headspace Healing, Delhi, believes such outlets are a great way for the differently abled to be employed since it affects sustainability, self-worth and balance. “People who visit such cafés see that the workers are capable and understand their ailments/disabilities do not affect their ‘normalcy’. This helps reduce biases. Initiatives like these spread goodwill and awareness about the need for inclusion in society,” she says.
This awareness gave 25-year-old Seema’s life a new lease. She works as a chef at the Sheroes Café in Noida. She was a Class 10 student when her brother’s friend and two others hurled acid at her as she stepped out of her house at Akbarpur in Ambedkar Nagar in 2016. It was revenge for Seema’s brother’s refusal to marry his friend’s relative after having an affair with her. “I have undergone eight surgeries and it was during one of my visits to the hospital when I overheard a conversation about Sheroes café in Lucknow. The people at Sheroes have been welcoming towards me. It has given me a new lease at life. I also got married last year,” says a smiling Seema.
The Noida-based Chhanv Foundation came up with the idea of opening Sheroes café, to be run by acid attack victims. The first outlet was opened in Agra in 2014 followed by one in Lucknow. Two kiosks were opened in Noida in 2022 at the Noida International Stadium in Sector 21 in collaboration with the Noida Authority. Akriti Das, Board Liaison Officer at Chhanv Foundation, says, “Rescue, medical treatment which includes surgery, and education are taken care of by the foundation. Over the years, we’ve seen a major shift in the way acid attack victims are perceived by society. This has encouraged us to open our fifth outlet.”
Activist and acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal believes it is important to understand that the survivor is a victim of a gruesome crime and the punishment should be reserved for the perpetrator and not the victim. “Just because they went through something so terrible shouldn’t take away their right to live a normal and respectable life. They deserve to be a part of every industry. Their skills should speak for them,” she says.
BACK TO THE KITCHEN
The workers at Café Beyond Eyes in Delhi’s Sector 11 share Agarwal’s belief. Run by servers and cooks who are visually impaired, the cafe was started as a collaboration between the National Association for the Blind and the NGO Beyond Eyes Foundation. “We've been working with people with visual impairment for almost 45 years now. We've provided school education and have taught them skills like cooking and customer care,” says Prashant Ranjan Verma, Managing Director of the Foundation. Anjali Vimal has been a chef in Cafe Beyond Eyes since it opened on April 15. Despite being visually impaired, her Maggie noodles, burgers, cold coffee and shakes are a hit with patrons. “Initially, it was challenging work. After receiving training from the Blind Relief Association, I found it doable. My sense of touch, smell, and taste are very sharp which help me in cooking and serving,” she reveals.
The struggle of people who fight societal biases to make space for themselves is truly commendable. And then there are people behind these initiatives to normalise and make the world more empathetic for the differently abled. They deserve loud cheers as well. An increase in the number of people who visit these cafes gives much-needed hope, making the world a little more liveable, a little less biased. As a vibrant group of individuals, passionately turning their dreams into reality despite physical, mental, and intellectual challenges, inclusivity is not just a goal; it is the vital key to unleashing the incredible potential of people and projects.
(With inputs from Arundhati Nath)
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