COOKING UP A STORM
A 24- YEAR- OLD WITH DOWN SYNDROME HAS BEEN FEATURED IN A COOKING SHOW
Aditi Verma sits bent over a colourful copy of the Arabian Nights.
Between transcribing passages from the book, she makes watchful entries inside an accounts book as she mans a modest- sized eatery named after her – Aditi’s Corner. Born with Down syndrome, 24- year- old Aditi works hard to keep the eatery in shipshape, and now, after almost two years of successfully running her business, she is all set to feature in her first television show, Maggie
Kitchen Journeys, a show that highlights women who have empowered themselves through cooking.
“We are so excited that Aditi will be featured in a TV show. We have asked all our friends and relatives to tune in at the right time. We hope this segment helps inspire parents with special children, ” says an elated Reena Verma, Aditi’s mother. Talking about her daughter’s excitement at meeting the host of the show, veteran actress Renuka Shahane, Reena says, “Aditi has grown up watching her serials, and so she was thrilled to meet Renuka in real life.”
But the journey hasn’t been easy, as Reena recalls having misgivings about the ambitious task that lay ahead of her daughter. “When she was gifted the eatery by her brother in 2016, I was worried about how she would manage calculations and customer interactions. I was apprehensive about the way people would react to her. But, within a few months, Aditi picked up the ropes. Today, she not only manages the eatery flawlessly, she even travels unassisted for client meetings. For her, the customer always comes first,” says Reena with pride.
Aditi, who completed her schooling at Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan, a special school in Belapur, always had an aptitude for maths and cooking. “After she finished school, I invited Aditi to help out in the office,” says dad
Amit Verma, a businessman. “Her entries had 100 per cent accuracy and her calculations were flawless. But Aditi wanted to pursue something more exciting, as she found the desk job a little tedious,” he reveals. “Aditi once saw the office boy serving tea and said, ‘ Mumma, I can do this’. And that’s when the idea to help her set up an eatery struck us,” Reena chimes in. Apart from playing the host at her eatery, Aditi also takes pleasure in cooking and often draws inspiration from YouTube cooking videos. “She loves baking and making chocolates. In fact, she helps out in cooking the lunch that is served. But, she prefers preparing the dishes beforehand at home, as her pace is a little slow,” says Reena.
In the future, Aditi wants to set up a restaurant that will help others like her gain employment. But, her dad isn’t unaware of the challenges in store. “It’s definitely not something that can be achieved overnight. We have to take baby steps, starting with improving the visibility of her existing eatery. But the thought that Aditi came up with this goal all by herself motivates us to help her accomplish it. While we often think about helping only our loved ones, Aditi wants to help everyone,” says Amit.
The supportive father strongly believes that the first steps to helping a special child are acceptance and encouragement. “These children are focussed, but we have to trust them. We realised, through Aditi, that it was our fear that was stopping her from doing many things, not her incapability. So you have to take precautions, but not become overprotective,” insists Amit.
As we are about to leave, Aditi opens a book. “Please give me your feedback,” she requests, “And this is my card, if you ever want to place an order,” she adds, confidently extending a business card.