While they’re playing it safe and not dishing out orders through online delivery platforms like so many others until the lockdown is (hopefully) lifted on May 3, Matamaal restaurant still has its kitchen stoves blazing and doing what it does best: feeding people; in this case, the migrant workers stranded in Gurugram without pay or supplies.
“We prepare hot meals daily for 500-600 people and go to different areas in the city every day to serve them. We wanted to do what we could to help those who need it the most in this time of crisis,” says Matamaal owner Surinder Sadhu, who started the Kashmiri Pandit restaurant with wife Nalini.
Working in tandem with members of Robin Hood Army, a volunteer organization, the Sadhu family and their employees make sure that the food reaches those in need. The restaurant also prepares boxes of rations for the migrant families, which have supplies for up to a week. Not only that, but the restaurant is also working with the Karma Animal Foundation to prepare and distribute food for a few hundred stray animals daily.
The restaurant also welcomes contributions of essential items for the same, which you can reach out to them for on their Twitter and Instagram pages. Given the restrictions on movement, employees (now are deemed essential workers), are happy to pick up the supplies from donors’ homes.