UTTAR PRADESH: For the hundreds of impoverished residents in back-of-the-beyond villages of the tribal district of Sonbhadra, where two square meals a day is a luxury, life comes on a van. Its arrival means none in a cluster of six-seven villages would go hungry. It’s ‘Chachi Ki Rasoi’, a mobile kitchen run by 52-year-old Bipin Devi.In many underdeveloped villages in this part of the state, farming and animal husbandry are the only sources of income. There aren’t many ‘employment-generating’ industries here. And when the rains are inadequate and yield is low, it becomes difficult for people to feed their families. “Even children have to retire for the day with an empty stomach. We were moved by their plight and I requested my husband to start a support system for these villages,” says Bipin Devi, a glint of compassion in her eyes. Kallu Yadav, Bipin Devi’s husband, runs a small grocery store in Rajpur village of Sonbhadra, the last district of the state. The shop does well for the family of four, including their two sons Neeraj and Mohit. Bipin had a knack for serving the poor and feeding the hungry, his way of returning to the community. Two years back, Bipin Devi decided to further organise her service in her effort to alleviate the misery of the poor. Her husband and two sons were game for the idea. A family van was converted into a mobile kitchen and she started travelling from village to village distributing food – a modest plate of ‘daal’, ‘chawal’ and ‘sabzi’ (vegetable curry). “I get immense happiness from feeding people. I try to ensure that no one goes hungry. During the pandemic, when I saw people in the villages without work or food, I started this initiative, calling it Chachi’s Kitchen,” she says. Since then, they have been regularly feeding people for at least 20-25 days a month. They try to provide 80 to 100 people, every day if possible.Bipin Devi says, “About a year and a half ago, while cooking a large batch of food, I burnt myself. My wounds were quite painful. But whenever I thought of the people going hungry, my pain seemed less significant, and this motivates me to continue with my endeavour.”Bipin’s son Neeraj says the family spends around Rs 60,000 on running the kitchen, grocery and diesel costs, which is a substantial part of their monthly income. “Our situation is such that whatever we earn, we can only feed others and ourselves,” he says.Neeraj has been watching his mother serve people since childhood. He takes the kitchen to several village panchayats in Sonbhadra – Tilhar, Kotwa, and Rajpur. The villagers, mostly tribal, are overjoyed as ‘Chachi’s Kitchen’ comes down the kutcha village road.
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