CoviStory of Neetu Gupta

2020- A year that no one can forget. Welcome to our blog "Humans of the Pandemic”. In our opinion, the more you'll interact with people, the more you'll learn. With this positive thought in mind, we had interviewed Ms. Neetu Gupta Singh to know how was her world in the time of Covid.

Neetu Gupta is a mother of 3 kids and a restaurateur. She loves the feeling of managing home and work together. When we asked her how would she describe her world in the time of Covid she said, “It’s hard to think of one word, but I would say it was a “NEW EXPERIENCE”. It was filled with both ups and downs, if focusing just on the positives; I would say I loved how I spent time with my family".

In India, during the lockdown most of the cafes were closed and as she owns a cafe so we asked her whether they had reopened the cafe once the lockdown was uplifted and what all safety measures they took to gain back the confidence of the visitors to which she said,

"Yes, I did open the restaurant when the lockdown was lifted. We took all the necessary measures, checking of temperature the customers coming in, making sure they have their masks, sanitizing everyone. In staff, all of them wore face masks and shields along with gloves. All of the staff was also sanitized after coming into the restaurant and their temperatures were also checked from time to time. All of this made customers gain the confidence back. Moreover, we sanitized our restaurants every 4-5 hrs and every table as soon as one customer leaves".

Also, was there any limit on the number of people who can dine in the restaurant at a point of time?

Yes, we had a restriction of 15 people at a time for the restaurant.

How did covid impact your business and how did you manage your staff and chefs during lockdown?

I would say it had a huge impact on the business, it went down drastically. As covid happened no one preferred ordering food from outside or dine outside.

We paid them incentives even for the day they haven’t worked, which made it easier for them to survive in those difficult times.

Did the expenses of managing a restaurant shot up due to covid?

The prices shot up. The income flowing in decreased incredibly, but the expenses of living didn’t change so it was a tough situation.

Lastly, what was your take on the initiatives taken by the government at the beginning of the pandemic such as lighting the diya and Taali, Thali bajao and What was the one learning which made you grow as a person during this Covid-19 pandemic?

I would say the initiatives didn’t make sense to me but I loved how everyone was united in the difficult times. I’m pretty sure it put a smile on everyone's face.

The one thing which hit me hard was how lives were moving so fast and we missed out on so many small things in life, but due to the pandemic, everyone started valuing small thing. I realized, in the end, your family is what matters the most and you just need food, a home and clothes to survive.