Women's Day: Welcome to 'The Orange Cafe', a bustling place run by acid attack survivors in Varanasi

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Sangeeta, one of the three acid attack survivors, narrated her struggle and how she managed to reclaim her life.

Varanasi: Three acid attack survivors run 'The Orange Café' in Durgakund area of ​​Varanasi. Sangeeta, Badama Lakshmi and Shanno own and run the cafe while social organisations 'ActionAid' and 'Red Brigade' support the establishment.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Sangeeta narrated her struggle through the dreadful incident and how she managed to reclaim her life. “He (the acid thrower) may have deformed my face but my mind was and is beautiful. Why do I need to hide my face? Hide the face of the one who did the heinous act of dashing acid on us. We do not have to hide our faces at all. In fact, we have to show society how strong we are,” she said.

Soon after the restaurant began operations, it had to be closed due to Covid-induced lockdown, she said. "We started distributing food to the needy people with the help of Action Aid. We distributed more than sixteen thousand food packets to the needy in the first lockdown. As the impact of the third wave of Covid has subsided, customers have started visiting," Sangeeta said.

She highlighted how the restaurant had changed their life. “There was a time when we used to expect help from people, but the restaurant empowered us and made us help the needy during the lockdown. There was a time when people used to take their eyes off. They thought that seeing our faces would make their daily routine inauspicious. But today, we have our own restaurant and are not at all worried about how people see us.”

Sangeeta said that when the income from the restaurant will increase, they will use it to help the other female survivors. “The society has to be told that only our faces are scorched in acid attacks, not our desires,” she said.

Mohammad Ali Faraz, the programme officer of Action Aid said they aim to make survivors self-reliant and add colour to their lives. Faraz highlighted that along with bearing the restaurant rent and other expenses, Action Aid also gives incentive money to survivors. They will continue to be given financial help by 'ActionAid' till they earn enough income to bear their own expenses, he said.

Khalid Chaudhary, regional manager of 'Action Aid', said that other social organisations including the ‘Red Brigade’ were also instrumental in starting the restaurant.