29-year-old Rahul Magotra from Jammu lost his job ten months after getting employed in Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi, because of Coronavirus.
Rahul has worked with domestic airlines like GoAir and IndiGo in which his main job was to take care of the air ramp and other cargo related tasks. Aviation industry was one of the most badly hit industries by pandemic. Consumer traffic witnessed a steep decline. Rahul said that the situation kept worsening even though the company make arrangements for his basic needs for shelter and food. He said that they were put in strict quarantine as some of his colleagues started testing positive for the novel virus. They were even not allowed to move out of our apartments.
Also Read: Meet the Jammu girl who left Delhi to establish her bakery business
As it seemed that his conditioned was not going to improve soon, Rahul decided to return home in Sanjaynagar, Jammu in June. He requested the company to let him return home, and the company permitted him.
Rahul had always liked cooking, and he noticed that there was a lot of demand for home-cooked meals in his area. With the use of some savings and a loan given by his father, he developed a makeshift kitchen in his attic. Rahul lives in a bungalow with a ground floor. The terrace of his building has two small rooms built on it – one for the house help and another for storage. He set up his business in the storage room.
Rahul named his business “Chef City” and started his work from the month of August. Rahul says that orders for food start coming in around noon and they continue till 9.30 pm.
On weekends, he receives more orders than usual. Generally, he receives around 20 orders on a single days. Some of his customers are regulars like bachelors or individual professionals. He also offers customised orders in terms of spiciness, variety and choices.
Also Read: Know about these self made women entrepreneurs of Jammu
Rahul said that most of his orders come from Shastri Nagar, New Jammu area of Gandhi Nagar, Channi, Saint colony and Greater Kailash which falls around a six-kilometre radius.
He says that profits do not matter immediately. He is getting an average response and trying to reach out to new customers. His venture is not recording any losses, but neither making huge profits. Ultimately, he says that his decision to open a new venture is satisfying.
