The Day We Served Our First 100 Meals

It started with two big degchis, one borrowed table, and a lot of nervousness. None of us had run a food drive before. We had cooked for family functions, yes — but standing on a Noida roadside with a hundred hot meals and no idea if anyone would come? That was new.

They came quietly

The first person was an elderly rickshaw puller who stood at a distance for ten full minutes before approaching. He didn't ask for food. He asked if it was really free, and then — this stayed with all of us — he asked if he could take a second plate for his wife, who was unwell at home. We packed three.

Within forty minutes, the hundred plates were gone. Construction workers, house helps between shifts, two school-going children who tucked rotis into their bags "for later." Nobody pushed. Nobody grabbed. The queue formed itself.

What we learned

Hunger in our cities is quiet. It doesn't beg on every corner — it stands at a polite distance and waits to be invited. Serving with respect matters as much as the food itself: a table, a smile, "aur lijiye" — these small things turn charity into hospitality.

That first drive of 100 meals has now grown into weekend drives serving thousands every month. But every single one still runs on the same rule we learned on day one: serve every person the way you would serve a guest at your own home.

If you'd like to fund a meal — ₹50 covers one full plate — visit our open cases. And if you'd like to be behind the degchi with us some weekend, join as a volunteer. We'll save you an apron.