Job lost, former MNC staffer starts food stall in Noida

NOIDA: For Ravi Kant, 38, life before the lockdown was sorted. An assistant manager with a multinational travel company in the city for the past three years, his salary package of Rs 7 lakh per annum was enough to sustain his family of six — his wife, their two children, aged 12 and five, and his elderly parents — in a rented accommodation in Sector 19.
However, his world came crashing down when he lost his job in March.Faced with the tough task of managing his children’s tuition fees, parents’ medical bills and daily expenses, Ravi turned to food, opening a stall called ‘Round the Corner #4Foodies’, a lifelong dream he hadn’t had the courage to pursue till now.
“My wife started giving online tuitions but that wasn’t enough. So when nothing worked, I decided to follow my dream of opening a café. But our problems refused to end as I had very little savings and opening a food joint in the middle of a pandemic was also not a great idea. However, I didn’t have much of a choice, so thought of listening to my heart,” Ravi said.
Kant added that after being unemployed for months, he saw some hope when the Unlock phases were announced, but finding an investor was a challenge. “I was counting days during the lockdown. Many people like me have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. I am yet to pay the tuition fees of my daughter, who studies in a private school. I knew I would have to step up one day and start a business to save my family,” he said.
Ravi said he decided to start small and opened a food stall in A block market of Sector 19, with an investment of Rs 20,000. In the 20 days since his stall opened, the response has been good, he said.
“Though I am now earning one fifth of what I used to get paid earlier, I am happy to see customers queuing up in front of my stall every evening. The footfall is not huge but people are coming back because they like the food and that is keeping me motivated. I know my love for food and cooking will not let me down, and that is my driving force,” he said, adding that his wife, who also helps him out at the stall, has been another constant in his life.
Ravi’s sandwiches, burgers, puffs and fries are priced between Rs 30 and Rs 80 and the taste has been a big crowd-puller. Days after Baba ka Dhaba in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar went from total obscurity to fame, a few tweets about his initiative have also made his stall a talking point. Though he has not been able to advertise the stall much, he plans to list it on food delivery applications soon. Serving good food, however, will remain his priority, he added.