Mumbai family sells buttermilk to raise money for charity

Bhavana Vora’s (in blue kurti) smile says it all at project chaas in Vile Parle. Pic.Anurag Ahire

It was not April Fool but April Cool for the Vora family on April 1 - the day the Vile Parle family started their month-long project of selling chaas or buttermilk, the go-to beverage for many Mumbaikars as it takes the sting out of summer, for a cause. The family will now donate the money, proceeds from selling a glass of chaas for Rs 2, to different sanatoriums which give accommodation to families of outstation cancer patients.

Return

Jimit Vora said, "We have done this earlier in pre-COVID times too and re-started it this year. It is our family's philosophy to give at least 10 per cent of income back to society." The Voras set up their chaas stall near their Vile Parle building. Jimit added, "We also placed a donation box next to the chaas stall in case anybody wants to donate something extra for the cause. We are close to the highway too, strategic placement, belief in the cause and our method, all combined to ensure there is a robust response to our effort."

The Vora family also sold aam ras on two days in April

Numbers

Bhavana Vora, Jimit's mother, said it with numbers. "We sell approximately 700 glasses of chaas every morning. We begin with around 250 to 270 litres of it at 10 am, and by 1 pm or even before that, all of it gets sold out," she said.

She added, "The Rs 2 we charge is for the pride and dignity of the buyers. We have auto rickshaw drivers, Metro labourers and white-collar corporate employees buying chaas from here. The poor, too, want to contribute to those who are more in need than them. They often tell me: ‘we want to do something for society. Yet, we have a small amount to give. Which organisation will accept such a small sum?' Daily wage earners, painters, labourers also even put money into our donation box. I tell them there is no need as they have already contributed by drinking chaas, but they insist."

Learning

Bhavana dubbed the project "an open university of life", and said, "It teaches us so much. Schoolchildren and youngsters who come here to drink chaas learn when they see people from all strata of society. They see the so-called underprivileged parting with Rs 30, Rs 50, putting it in the donation box from daily earnings. They realise that in this Insta age where superficial aspects impress, we cannot always go by what people wear or how they look, the heart is important. I also inadvertently may have imparted lessons in reducing wastage. I do not use disposable glasses but have two young men for washing the glasses as hygiene is paramount. In this way, younger people learn there is pride in working for your money too."

Donation

The Voras also sold aam ras (mango juice) at Rs 10 a cup, on two days in April. "On April 12, we sold 986 cups and on April 28, 1,400 cups," said Bhavana. She added, "My reward was seeing the expressions of delight as it was truly aam ras for the aam aadmi. Some of them had never had aam ras earlier, because it is expensive."

Though Bhavana was the face at the makeshift stall, she said, "This is a joint effort by my entire family here and overseas too; it would not happen without them." She proved that on a simmering Mumbai day, as life buzzed on a western suburban highway at a frenetic Mumbai pace, Chicken Soup for the Soul had been temporarily replaced by Buttermilk for the Soul on the bestseller list.