Inspiring story of Delhi eateries Mohammed Kash

Inspiring story of Delhi eateries Mohammed Kashan is a master brewer at the Eatopia food court in India Habitat Centre. He greets you with a smile, and if you start a conversation, he points to the instructions on the counter that let you know he is hearing and speech impaired. Then, he goes on to make a mean cup of coffee for you. The 30-year-old has worked in Cafe Coffee Day and Barista before his stint at Eatopia and supports his wife with his job. Sandeep Kanotra, COO of Eatopia says, "Kashan now trains our regular brewers and he is exceptional." He said the process to employ people with disabilities began in 2012 in earnest. "There were a lot of things to think about. We associates with NGOs as we had to figure out which departments were best for persons with disabilities. We also sensitised our staff on how to make newcomers comfortable. The entire process took about 2 years and we started hiring in 2014," he says. Many more restaurants, hotels and service platforms are now employing disabled people contrary to the perception that they would be uncomfortable in this line of business. Private hotels like Lemontree, with over 40 hotels in India came up with initiative of including differently-abled in their staff as early as 2007. Seema, a speech and hearing disabled housekeeping staff, goes about her own business without a care in the world, at their hotel in Aerocity. She is 33, married and the mother of two children. Her husband, who is also speech impaired is a government employee. #News

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