Chef Vikas Khanna has been ruling the global culinary scene with many celebrities and eminent personalities often raving about his dishes. Now the celebrity chef who is based in New York City is shining through for lending a helping hand to India, his country of birth, during the time of crisis.
He has sent tons of food items to help the people who are facing a severe food shortage in India. Chef Khanna became a familiar face among Indians when he became one of the judges of the super hit cooking reality show Master Chef India. Vikas, in association with several charitable organizations, has already distributed more than 500 tons of rice, wheat flour, all-purpose flour and pulses at around fifty cities in India.
Vikas, however, had a rather unpleasant experience when some fraudulent persons took advantage of his charitable nature. He says he had, some time ago, received heartbreaking images of poverty, supposedly from a remote Indian village, on his phone. He also received a text message requesting financial help for those people. Vikas gave them the money and soon realized that he had been tricked. The video images that were sent to his phone were older. However, it motivated Vikas to enquire about the situation in his homeland. Vikas says singer Lata Mangeshkar and actress Shabana Azmi have supported him in his endeavour in providing aid for the people of his country.
Indian street food is known around the world for its unique flavours and vibrant dishes. However, millions of street food vendors lost their livelihood due to the lockdown. Vikas believes that it is the duty of every Indian citizen to ensure that the street food vendors don't go hungry. He distributed tons of food grains among the street food vendors at Jharkhand.
However, transporting the food grains to various places was difficult as the lockdown is in effect. In Mangalore, the food grains were distributed with the help of the National Disaster Response Force. Meanwhile, the team faced many difficulties distributing food in Bengaluru as well. Vikas says he feels impeccable happiness when the food items reach the needy.
Once, Vikas received a few messages from Mumbai requesting food for a group of people who were observing the Ramadan fast. He immediately contacted the organizations in Mumbai and made sure that they received food before they broke the fast. Vikas notes that amazing fetes like these motivate him to work even harder. The chef, meanwhile, has no qualms in admitting that his mother is his greatest source of support. Vikas greatly values his mother's advice that one shouldn't give up on their goals for fear of minor setbacks.
