Inspired by 'Sheroes Cafe', acid attack survivors in Varanasi to open 'Orange Cafe'

Taking inspiration by the ‘Sheroes Hangout Cafe in Lucknow and Agra, the acid attack survivors in Varanasi will soon start a cafe that will be entirely run by them. 

Red Brigade India founder Ajay Kumar Patel will soon be opening a restaurant called ‘The Orange Cafe'  at the Durga Kund area, Varanasi. Patel started the Red Brigade India in 2011 to train women in self-defence. 

While interacting with a news agency, Patel said, “We are starting The Orange Cafe from a rented place but we soon plan to get ownership of the place. Our aim is to make sure that the acid attack survivors own the café and run it themselves.”

Ajay Kumar Patel has been traveling throughout Uttar Pradesh to connect and communicate with acid attack survivors from various regions and districts. During his travels, Ajay short-listed four survivors who agreed to move to Varanasi and take over the responsibilities of running the cafe.

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Survivors delighted over being self-dependent in future

The brave survivors who will be running the cafe are Rekha from Jaunpur, Somvati from Bareilly, Vimla from Rae Bareli and Badam Devi from Varanasi.

“We are now training these women to cook food, serve the customers and undertake the billing. We do not want them to depend on others for these tasks. For the first four months, we will pay them a token amount but they will later share the profit among themselves,” the Red Brigade India founder added. 

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A survivor named Somvati from Bareilly expressed her happiness for the other survivors as they will be finally able to stand on her own feet and will not be dependent on their families for survival. She also stated that her dream of providing a good education for her son will finally be fulfilled with the cafe. 

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