A new cafe, owned and managed by acid attack survivors, is set to be inaugurated in Varanasi on Basant Panchami (January 29)—a day which marks the advent of spring in north India. The cafe has been named The Orange—a reference to UNESCO’s 'Orange the World' Campaign which sets aside 16 days starting from November 25 every year to galvanise action against all forms of violence against women.
The cafe is a project of the Red Brigade Trust—an organisation that works to prevent violence against women and is supported by Action Aid, India.
Ajay Patel, founder director of the Red Brigade Trust said that the idea of a business owned by acid attack survivors came to him in 2015. “Survivors would tell me how if they had a source of livelihood and full ownership over it, they could change their lives. That set me thinking about possible business models where survivors would not be employees but owners, and thus have security and complete ownership,” he said.
Though this will be the third cafe in the state which will be run by acid attack survivors, the crucial difference is that survivors will not be mere employees. The other two cafes (under the brand name Sheroes Hangout managed by the Chhanv Foundation) have experienced financial issues and have been unable to pay salaries as the MOUs signed with the state government were annulled. While the Red Brigade Trust and Action Aid will support the cafe till it starts making profit, once that happens, the entire enterprise will be owned and managed by survivors. Support offered includes rent, furniture, decor, ingredient costs, salaries and the like.
‘The Orange’ is sited at Varanasi’s Durga Kund area in a 600 square feet space. The initial plan was to set it up at Assi Ghat—one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations—but rents were prohibitive. The yet-to-be finalised menu will have local delicacies. There will be an emphasis on nutrition as well. For instance, spinach rotis for which the dough too has been prepared with spinach-mixed water, will be served to supplement iron deficiencies. Coarse grains will also figure prominently in the recipes.
The four survivors who will run the restaurant initially include Badama Devi (35), who was attacked over a property dispute in 2012, Vimla Passi (39) whose acid attack followed a rape in 2008, Somvati (18) who was attacked in 2015 following a village dispute and Rekha Devi (35) who was attacked in the same year during a loot attempt. All four were trained at a local restaurant on how to take orders, serve food and manage the cash counters. Though the head chef and Patel will be part of the initial team, the long term plan is to make the cafe entirely women-run.
The decor, with hints of orange and red to mark the struggles of women, has been conceptualised by the Visual Arts Department of the Banares Hindu University. “We wanted everything to be hand-painted, but time constraints have made us use flex as well”, said Patel.
