: After Grandsons Debilitating Accident, Gritty 77-YO Helps Him Start Snack Business #IndiaNEWS #Food Seventy-seven-year-old Urmila Jamnadas Asher starts her day at 5. 30 every morning. She makes

After Grandsons Debilitating Accident, Gritty 77-YO Helps Him Start Snack Business #IndiaNEWS #Food
Seventy-seven-year-old Urmila Jamnadas Asher starts her day at 5. 30 every morning.
She makes tea and breakfast for her daughter-in-law, Rajashree, and grandson Harsh, and then reads the newspaper as she eats her own meal. After this, she starts preparing snacks to cater to orders placed by residents across Mumbai, who come to eat her delicious food at Gujju Ben Na Nasta.
Assisted by two people, including Rajashree, she begins delivering orders by noon. On the surface, this seems to be the routine of any woman who runs a homemade food business. But Urmila’s story reads differently. The senior citizen started her venture at the age of 77, to bury life full of tragedy, pain, and struggle.
Urmila’s daughter passed away when she was two-and-a-half years old, after she accidentally fell from a building. Years later, her two sons passed away as well — one due to brain tumour, and the other due to heart disease. All she had left was her grandson, Harsh.
Harsh completed his MBA in 2012, and worked with the Oman Ministry to promote tourism in India. In 2014, he quit his job to start a venture of corporate gifts and merchandise by collaborating with the consulates.
However, tragedy struck in 2019, when he met with an accident and lost his upper lip. “The accident left me disfigured, and I had to undergo surgery. It led me to face an identity crisis, and subsequently, I fell into depression. I refrained from stepping out of the house. I had been financially sustaining my family and myself since 2016, but that came to a sudden halt,??? he tells The Better India.
A steady hand to hold
Dhokla from Gujju Ben
This personal crisis was followed by a worldwide one, when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. “I started losing business as the global pandemic situation worsened. By February 2020, I had to shut shop,??? he adds.
Harsh’s grandmother was a first-hand witness to his pain and suffering. “I told him that he had only lost his upper lip and business, but I’d lost three children, and was still standing strong. I assured him I’d offer all my support,??? Urmila says.
In 2020, Urmila and Harsh started Gujju Ben Na Nasta, to slowly get back on their feet. The business today earns the duo Rs 3 lakh a month.
Every day since March, the neighbourhood of Charni Road has found itself drenched in the aroma of fresh and mouth watering Gujarati delicacies. This aroma travels far and wide across different corners of the city through a plethora of orders that it receives on food delivery platforms including Swiggy and Zomato.
Harsh says the idea struck him in March, one day when his grandmother was preparing pickles.

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