The Handicap Food Truck

Companionship is like salt in food, one needs it to give taste to the food and add perfect flavour to it. Life is worthless if there’s no reason to live and a goal to achieve. It is always good to have someone by our side while achieving these goals and it feels much better when there’s someone to celebrate with. This story is about two individuals working towards a common goal and in the interim becoming a vital part of each other’s life. This is not exactly a love story but a story of companionship which makes your life more beautiful.

On the busy streets of Tilak Nagar in Delhi, Mrs. Sabharwal stayed on the 3^rd floor in Mahavir complex. That flat was her entire world. Sitting by her window, Mrs. Sabharwal was thinking why her life is going downhill and why is she treated like a burden. Her family consisted of her husband and only son, Rohan. She was always assisted by her nurse, as she had lost both her legs in a car accident few years back. But had no support of her family members as they were always busy in their own endeavours. She was on her own. Being a food lover and a very good cook, she always watched cooking channels on the television. With no one to talk to, she always felt abandoned by her family and felt she had no reason to live. Food was only the reason which would put a smile on her face.

Mr. Sareen had recently shifted on the 4^th floor. He was a government official and had got a transfer to Delhi. He was accompanied by her wife and her only daughter, Aditi. Aditi was previously a food blogger but was deprived of it as she opposed a man’s ego. She was thrashed by her truculent friend as she stood for herself & refused to fulfil his evil pleasures. It costed her a leg and hand with few deep scars on her face. The boy never got convicted for he was apparently a minister’s son. But she had to live with this for the rest of her life. Aditi was studying computer engineering but had to rely only on online classes because of her condition. Also, her father did not want her to go out in the world anymore after all she had suffered.

One fine day gazing at the sky, Mrs Sabharwal heard a noise by her window. A mobile phone had fallen into her balcony from the floor above. She picked up the phone and found herself staring at the wallpaper which was of food and colourful dishes all around. She checked the phone to find out whom it belonged to and realised that the owner was a foodie just like her. There were different food articles, pictures, blogs and many more all related to food. She was very happy to know that someone of her own likings was so nearby. But she knew she would never get a chance to communicate with that person. She was thinking of somehow passing the message to the owner that she too loved food. She thought of an idea to change the wallpaper. She expressed how happy she was by seeing the blogs and pictures by writing those words on the screensaver. Suddenly, the bell rang. It was Mr. Sareen who had come to take his daughter’s phone. Aditi got her phone back and when she saw the screen, she was very happy to read motivating and cheerful words of Mrs. Sabharwal. She wanted to talk to her as there was a common love for food. She found a way and wrote a simple thank you on a paper and passed it down on the 3^rd floor with the help of a rope. Mrs Sabharwal received the message and the conversation started from there. They used these chits instead of using a messenger on a mobile phone & were very fond of this. They loved their chitchat by the balcony. Food was everything & only thing they talked about and it filled the void created by the past in them. Eventually, they came up with a plan of using their expertise of cooking and managing food to make a living out of it, not for money but for a reason to live. According to the plan, Mrs. Sabharwal would cook the food and Aditi would use all her contacts and share those lovely dishes on her blog. Starting from the conventional Chole Bhature they kick started their business. Aditi’s family was very supportive, but it was not the case with Mrs. Sabharwal. She would cook the food and pass it on to the fourth floor with the help of the same rope. And from there it would be supplied to the customer. Joy was the guy who was hired to deliver the food to the customers. With time their business flourished, and the number of dishes cooked by Mrs. Sabharwal also increased like paranthas, chaat and butter chicken. Isn’t it mouth-watering? Now it was getting very tough for them to continue as it was becoming a challenge to pass on this large amount of food to the 4^th floor. So, they thought of starting a food truck in the locality. Initially, their families were not in support of this but somehow, they managed to convince them. Aditi and Mrs. Sabharwal also thought of providing employment to the handicap people who were usually ignored by the society. Cherry on top of the cake was when they also thought of providing the food to the handicap at a subsidised rate. This is how both the ladies not only did support each other but also gave a reason to live to many others like them with the “THE HANDICAP FOOD TRUCK”.