Srinagar

The Covid-induced lockdown has not deterred the young Srinagar-based entrepreneur Rayees Ahmed from pursuing the idea of his startup Tiffin Aww (Tiffin has come, in Kashmiri) that started delivering homemade food in Srinagar in September.

He just changed the business strategy and has found a fresh way of doing business and at the same time helping those in distress due to Covid-19.

A new concept in Kashmir, Rayees started the venture of tiffin service to provide healthy and hygienic food to all. His food soon became a hit with doctors, the office goes, students and many people living alone in Srinagar.

Food is being packed

His venture Food for Kashmir supplies food under the brand name Tiffin Aww. He set up the business in September and in no time it became popular among people from different walks of life, including doctors, lawyers, students.

Rayees, who has five employees, says last year, he closed his business for one month and resumed after the Covid wave had subsided.

This year, in the second wave of Covid, Tiffin Aww has launched a free meal campaign for the patients and their families who are in quarantine and have no access to food due to the increased restrictions in view of the unprecedented surge in the case of Covid-19 in recent weeks.

People taking food from Tiffin Aww

The concept for providing free meals came to the founder of Tiffin Aww after he started receiving a lot of distress calls from people outside Kashmir, wanting food to be delivered to their Covid-hit parents or relatives.

''Food for Kashmir was started recently and when I received lots of distress calls from the people whose families were Covid positive and they were not in a position to buy the food. Being a start-up, I too was in no position to supply free meals that too on such a large scale,” Rayees said.

Rayees and his team mate reaching out to the needy

Rayees Ahmad started a campaign on social media asking people to sponsor a meal for those who for some reasons are not able to pay for it and yet need it the most.

“We received a great response to our social media campaign from across,'' said Rayees.

“This initiative will go on till the pandemic is over. We are serving homemade food, people who are in hospitals crave home-cooked meals and that's why we serve them and it brings a smile to their face. Seeing theysmile gives us a great deal of satisfaction,'' said Rayees Ahmad, founder, Tiffin Aww.

(Pictures by Basit Zargar)