"Difficult Battle": Kolkata's "Positive Cafe" Is Run By 7 HIV+ Youths
NDTV
Kolkata Positive Cafe: The seven youths do everything from preparing food and beverages, such as coffee, fish and chips to sandwiches, to serving them to the customers.
A cafe run by seven HIV-positive youths in Kolkata's Ballygunge area is attracting prejudice-free customers from all walks of life, besides clearing misconceptions about the disease.
'Positive Cafe', first started in a 100-sq ft garage in Jodhpur Park in 2018 by Dr Kallol Ghosh, recently changed address and moved to bigger space in Ballygunge to accommodate the "increasing rush of customers".
The seven youths do everything from preparing food and beverages, such as coffee, fish and chips to sandwiches, to serving them to the customers.
Dr Ghosh, who claimed that this was the first such cafe in Asia, on Monday told PTI, "Our regular customers don't have any hang-ups about visiting a place managed by HIV-positive people. We provide every visitor leaflets giving out all details about the cafe." “Most of them say they don't have a problem, although some still leave. People in their twenties are very receptive and progressive. It must be kept in mind that HIV does not spread like other contagious diseases," he said.
