30.06.2021 RANCHI: In the very first look, Café La Gravitea seems to be any other cafeteria in the Steel City of Jamshedpur. But the moment a waiter or waitress approaches for taking orders, one would realize the uniqueness of this eating joint.
Café La Gravitea offers employment to hearing-impaired youths only and currently employ 10. According to the owner of Café La Gravitea, Ashish Duggar, he was motivated to take this initiative after a youth along with his sister, who was hard of hearing, visited his tea stall in 2016 and told him that his sister wanted to work but she was not getting any job due to her inability. “It was a turning point in my life as after quitting my job as Vice President at a steel company in 2015, I wanted to do something for the society. Meeting with the girl, I realized that the opportunity I was looking for was right in front of me and decided to open a Café where all the employees will be hearing impaired,” said Duggar.
It took him a few months to give shape to his concept/ “Now, the Café is being managed by all the 11 employees, out of which 10 are hearing impaired and talk only in sign language. Initially, I had to face problems as I did not understand what they were saying, but gradually I also learnt sign language in the next six months and now I can communicate like anyone among them,” said Duggar.
Probably, this is only such café in India where the hearing impaired employees not only serve food but also cook and do all other chores which is required at an eating joint, he added. Duggar informed that Café La Gravitea is the most sought after eating joint in Steel City which is famous for more than 120 international varieties of tea.
His initiative got a very good response from the people and the Café is visited by city's important personalities. Jamshedpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Suraj Kumar is one of them. “There has always been a myth among the business class that only physically fit people could do a job efficiently, but the initiative taken by the owner of Café La Gravitea has defied it. They communicate in sign language, the menu is already decided and everything is on writing, and hence, nobody has faced any problem there as everything is being done there quite efficiently. In fact, after the initiative taken by the owner, more and more people throng on the Café to appreciate it,” said Suraj Kumar.
In a way it has given positive sense and has added a new dimension to the aspect of business which was not ever thought by anyone else, he added. The DC said that the initiative has also given a lesson for the entrepreneurs that they should also start giving employment to the specially-abled individuals.
Recently, all the employees were vaccinated at the Café itself. “Not only they readily took the jabs but they also motivated the people living in Jamshedpur in their own sign languages which made a positive impact on the vaccination drive being conducted in the district,” said the DC.
Interestingly, Duggar is not only giving employment to the hearing impaired youths but also conducts ‘No Honking’ campaign. In addition to that, he has also been conducting ‘KhamoSheWithLife’ (for the deaf community around the world) since 2017 with a Cash Prize of US $ 400 which is the only annual event by a startup in India that empowers and gives an opportunity to deaf people to show their skill in diverse field.
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