Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna organizes world’s biggest Eid feast

People all across the world are doing all they can to help others in these troubling times of the coronavirus pandemic.

While American photographer Mark Seliger is auctioning off his iconic portraits, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood is arranging for thousands of migrant to go back to their home towns, and New York flower designer Lewis Miller is beautifying New York to honour healthcare workers.

Here is another story that will certainly touch you!

The festival of Eid was celebrated across the world recently albeit not with the pomp and splendour that is generally associated with this festival of Muslims. The coronavirus did dampen the fervour conventionally associated with this festival.

However, Michelin-star chef from India, Vikas Khanna, who is also a writer and TV host, stepped in to bring in the much needed cheer and happiness synonymous with Eid by organizing the “World’s Largest Eid Feast” in the Indian city of Mumbai. By means of this feast, he provided food to a whopping 200,000 people in the city, which has been one of the worst-affected in India.

“The food is being collected at the Haji Ali Dargah from where it will be loaded in trucks and distributed around Mohammed Ali Road, Dharavi and Mahim Dargah in Mumbai with the help of over 200 volunteers and personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) while adhering to all guidelines of social distancing,” Khanna told PTI.

Khanna has been tweeting about this initiative, keeping the public updated with its progress.

This wonderful initiative was also supported by a large number of food brands and organizations from across India.

How did it all begin?

Khanna started off by delivering dry food ingredients to orphanages, old-age homes, and poor neighbourhoods in states across India. However, with time, this spiraled into a much larger initiative, reaching thousands of vulnerable sections of the society.

But this is not all.

Khanna is also spearheading the ‘Fuel Stations to Food Stations’ drive in India, whereby food will be distributed to the thousands of migrant workers that are undertaking arduous journeys back to their villages from cities. He has collaborated with Bharat Petroleum, one of the largest gas companies in India, to set up kitchens across petrol and gas stations to feed the needy.

Khanna is currently in New York in the United States and cannot travel to India due to the international travel ban imposed by the government of India. So, he coordinates the tasks with his volunteers and team in India through phone, which include taking care of the logistical requirements, picking up deliveries from wholesale vendors, and distributing the food to the right centres.

Wow! This man really shows us how food can bring all of us together in these tough times. Kudos to Vikas Khanna for all that he is doing!