Meet 'Kashmir's Swiggy Boy' Who Serves Fresh Home-Cooked Meal, Delivers At Your Doorstep

In the valley, if one doesn¡¯t know cooking or is busy in the office, they can now order the healthy, hygienic and home-cooked food at their doorsteps which would be only a call away.

Rayees Ahmad, a 29-year-old youth from Srinagar, popularly known as ¡®Kashmir¡¯s Swiggy Boy¡¯ has taken a responsibility to keep you away from the junk food added with harmful condiments as he serves with fresh home-cooked food.

A former Adman, Rayees named his venture as Tiffin Aaw (Meal has come), commencing it with a promise to reach out to all those who are missing the fresh home-cooked food.

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He told IndiaTimes the idea of starting this kind of service for the first time in valley struck his mind in November last year after the abrogation of Article 370. ¡°It was a foggy winter night and I got a call from one of my friends at 11 pm sayings that he had not eaten anything since morning due to the lockdown and requested if I can arrange something for him,¡± says Rayees.

¡°I entered the kitchen, packed the food in a tiffin box and left to drop the order at his office on my two-wheeler,¡± he said adding ¡°After collecting the tiffin box a few days later, it was banging in the bag and the idea clicked my mind that this something I need to do¡±.

Services restored in between pandemic

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Rayees say that they started taking orders in February and it continued till March 18. ¡°Later we have to call off everything due to the outbreak of the deadly virus,¡± he said.

¡°But recently we received a call from Kashmir-based doctor in Delhi asking to cook the food for their elderly parents and as he was out of the city. That prompted us to resume our services,¡± he says. Rayees say they were receiving an overwhelming response from the people.

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Rayees said that he had a team of five people. ¡°All of them lost their jobs after the pandemic outbreak but recently we engaged back a chef who was in dire need of a job. We will accommodate others soon,¡± he said.

When asked why people call him ¡®Kashmir¡¯s Swiggy Boy¡¯, he said, ¡°I have never been inspired by the Zomato or Swiggy as this was my own idea. It is also because people here don¡¯t get services like Swiggy and others and then they may be treating my service same like them,¡± says Rayees who has also studied direction and editing.

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Selling at affordable price

¡°We sell our food at minimum rates which can be afforded by all. Before pandemic, we used to sell a single Thali at Rs 80 but due to the packing cost now due to COVID we charge Rs 100,¡± he said.

He said they serve both veg and non-veg depending upon customer¡¯s demand. ¡°We also serve the traditional Kashmiri dishes like Alhach Maz, Al-Yakin, Haak Maaz and others,¡± he said.

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Serving in city hospitals and banks

Rayees said that his first order in February was the at the head office of the J&K Bank in Srinagar. ¡°They paid me a standing ovation for being on time and serving quality food,¡± he said.

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He said that he was dropping the orders at various city hospitals, hostels, quarantine centers, and banks. ¡°I myself deliver the food in my car while wearing the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit and following the proper COVID-19 SOPs to ensure the security of others as well,¡± he said.

A doctor at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar said that they were relishing the new home-cooked food. ¡°The food is delicious with many varieties of dishes. All the colleagues are enjoying his service,¡± he said.

Taking it to next level

Sharing about his future plan, Rayees said he wants to take his venture across India. ¡°If the spread of the pandemic remained under control, we will reach out to all the districts of J&K within six months and later move out of UT,¡± he said.

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He said will hire more staff so that educated people will also get an employment opportunity. ¡°This is my dream project. Will take it to higher levels,¡± Rayees said.

Before signing off, he added they were also working to set up the official mobile app of ¡®Tiffin Aaw¡¯ so that people can book their orders on phone instead of making calls. However, he finds it difficult to run an app in Kashmir because of frequent lockdowns. ¡°During the lockdown, all the communication lines are snapped and in that period we can¡¯t take the new orders. We will only serve the old customers,¡± he concludes.