As patients fight virus, home chefs feed them
From simple snacks to full-fledged meals, Noida and Ghaziabad residents are pulling together in this fight against Covid-19
With Covid-19 cases being reported from almost every locality, home chefs and Good Samaritans are stepping up and delivering meals to patients in home isolation.
Sector 50 resident Parul Sachdeva, 50, has been getting over 30 to 40 calls ever since she started delivering food for Covid patients two weeks ago.
“I get calls from Covid patients who want customised meals. Some want to have something light, while others just want soups. I serve them for ₹100 per meal. For senior citizens, the service is free,” said Sachdeva. She is listed on online delivery platforms to make deliveries across Noida and Greater Noida.
Sector 29 resident Ashutosh Bhardwaj also started delivering home cooked food to Covid patients in home isolation last week on Friday. Bhardwaj was working in the hospitality sector in Rajasthan but due to coronavirus-induced curbs last year, he returned to Noida.
“Since two weeks, there has been an explosion of Covid cases in the country. Being a hotel management professional, I thought doing something for the patients as I was just idle at home. I circulated a message on our local Whatsapp groups that I can deliver home cooked meals at residences of Covid patients in Noida. Soon, I was bombarded with calls,” said Bhardwaj. The 39-year-old has been making around 10 food deliveries per day since last week.
“After a lockdown was imposed in Delhi, two of my helpers left for their home town and I was left with just one.
Moreover, due to the night curfew in the district, I am only able to deliver lunch,” he said.
Vishal Srivastava, a resident of Sector 137, was delivering home cooked food to his office colleague and his wife who got infected in the first week of April. “Now I am making around five deliveries around my apartment per day for ₹100 per thali which includes lentils, rice, roti and a mix vegetable with curd,” he said.
Srivastava is one of the volunteers who signed up for an initiative started by Anupriya Singh, a home cook from Panchsheel Enclave, Delhi. “I decided to compile a list of all home cooks across Delhi-ncr who could volunteer to deliver meals for Covid patients. The list was circulated on social media last Friday and people across Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Delhi got connected,” said Singh who runs a platform for home cook called House of Kitchen.
Indirapuram resident Farha Khadija also got connected through the initiative. “After my contact was circulated, I have
been delivering 20 thalis per day to home isolation patients in Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara area. I have had to refuse to about 30 other queries as I do not have food in such a large quantity,” she said.
Then there are those who do not cook thalis or light food but deliver snacks and supplements.
Rajeev Malik, a resident of Sector 29, delivers snacks and Vitamin C supplements for free on Sundays.
“I do not have resources to cook food but I wanted to do my bit for those affected by coronavirus. Hence, I decided to put together a small snacks packet with biscuits, some namkeen, glucose packet and vitamin C supplement tablets. However, soon after my number was circulated through Whatsapp groups, I started getting 75-80 calls a day,” said the 42-year-old who delivers the packets personally across Noida.
Meanwhile, Kavi Nagar resident Mayank Chaudhary who runs a volunteer organisation Youth Network, delivers free
food in Ghaziabad.
“We spread the word about the initiative through social media on Sunday and since then we have been getting over 200 calls a day. We always ask callers to share their medical reports as we had some cases where people call just for the free food,” he said. The deliveries are contactless as the food packets are placed outside the house of the patients. He has been making deliveries in Kavi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Raj Nagar, Raj Nagar extension and Crossing Republik.
Their volunteers also try to deliver medicines and other essentials to home isolation patients, which are chargeable. “We have tied up with a wholesale pharmaceutical manufacturer and try to deliver medicines prescribed to Covid patients in home isolation that are available. If the Covid patient also needs essentials, we deliver that as well. However, only the deliveries are free for this service and the cost of medicines and essentials has to be borne by the patients,” said Mayank.