“I always dreamt of starting a small restaurant when I grew up and my dream was finally fulfilled two years ago despite a lot of struggles. My restaurant was picking up slowly till February and suddenly because of the COVID 19 outbreak and the nation wide lockdown, we faced the brunt. There were 12 people in my staff and they had to take care of their families, so, I continued to pay half of their salaries even during the lock down period. Looking at their situation, I felt my problems were nothing, but the last two months were incredibly tough. I had to face the standing costs without any operations. Now that the government has eased the lock down restrictions, I reopened the restaurant last week on 8th of June with only 50 % of the staff by maintaining all the hygiene standards. My business certainly depends on the customers from all walks of life such as daily wage labourers, students, families, office-goers, businessmen and senior citizens. Even if we restart our operations fully, I don’t think people would confidently come and dine in like before. So, we are mostly relying on takeaways and home deliveries these days. I run this restaurant not only for the money – but to make my guests feel that this is their second home. My staff and I will surely miss those good old days serving our guests with a smile. I know that nothing is going to be like before and we will all have to adjust to this new normal!”

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