Crisis Ukraine: Indian restaurant in Budapest serves free food for evacuees
2 min readKulvinder Singh Jham, the owner of the restaurant, said as a devout Sikh, he immediately opened Langar (Kitchen Community) to serve food
Maharaja, the oldest Indian restaurant in Budapest, has served free food to Indian students who were evacuated from Ukraine which was hit by a war through the capital of Hungary.
Kulvinder Singh Jham, the restaurant owner, said being an obedient Sikh, he immediately opened Langar (Kitchen Community) to serve free food. “It’s Monday. I didn’t realize their number would increase so fast. On Tuesday, 300 students arrived at Budapest. On Wednesday afternoon, we prepared 800 foods and at night 1,500 students arrived,” Jham said by telephone.
Jham, who has lived in Europe for 40 years and founded Maharaja in 1994, said students expect help from the Indian Embassy. “Embassies initially provide food available such as sandwiches, but students need foods that are warmly cooked. Many of them are starving and trauma.”
Jham said the students had a terrible experience. “Some boys said they were offered money and rifles to fight for Ukraine. All were stopped by the army at the border because Ukraine did not allow men between 16 and 60 to leave the country. Students must prove that they are not a citizen of Ukraine. Great than they prefer to ride the train to Hungary think Russia can stop and confiscate the bus to Romania and Poland. “
He said the Hungarian entrance was allowed without a visa and established the registration center. “The train tariff has also been made. The terminal at the airport is only opened for Indian students.” Jham said the Ambassador Ambassador Kumar Tuhin ended and he returned to Delhi in November. “Because there was no ambassador here when the crisis began, the government sent him back because he became acquainted with the land situation.”
Jham said they met Minister Tuhin and Union Hardeep Singh Puri, who appreciated the idea of establishing Langar. “The government evacuates students. Thousand of them are scheduled to go on Friday.”
Jham said he had around a dozen employees and packed food was a problem but friends and neighbors voluntarily helped. “I wake up at 4 am and start getting ingredients to eat.” Jham said the fate of the students had touched them and many of them began to cry to see friendly people. “They don’t seem to believe that their nightmares end.”
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