As aid dries up, Baba is back at his dhaba

The fourth wave of the pandemic in New Delhi has left many in a difficult situation. Photo: Unsplash/Aquib Akhter

On a hot May afternoon, Kanta Prasad and his wife Badaami Devi make for a picture of despair as they wait for customers at Baba ka Dhaba, a nondescript roadside eatery in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar. The sight is a far cry from just a few months ago when a social media campaign, which saw help pouring in from across the country, seemed poised to end their troubles.

Prasad and his dhaba had become famous overnight last year after a city YouTuber shared a video showing the octogenarian Prasad in tears, telling him how he struggled to make ends meet as business dried up.