Those who are shunned by the society because of their physical condition and ailment need to be brought into the mainstream and gainfully employed. Doing precisely that is Asia’s first café located in Kolkata’s Jodhpur Road, which is run exclusively by HIV positive staff.

The twin objectives of the eatery are to spread awareness and generate employment for HIV positive people to make them confident and give them a chance to lead a normal life and become part of the society.

At present there are seven teenagers who are working in this café.

The man behind this café, Dr. Kallol Ghosh, was inspired to start this café after seeing one in Frankfurt, Germany which too is run by HIV positive persons. He started the first eatery in 2018 has plans to start 30 more such places and has shortlisted 800 people for training to curb the stigma attached to HIV and AIDS.

Talking about the reaction of customers, 57-year-old Ghosh said: “Some people get uncomfortable. If they come and get to know that the staff is HIV positive, we explain everything to them and the majority stays back. However, some leave as well.”

In the beginning there was some apprehension but over time people realised that HIV positive people are like all other humans informed Ghosh who also runs an NGO, Anandaghar which works with children affected with mental health and HIV positive people.

Café Positive has already become popular with customers who include professionals, college students and youngsters, and is well known for its coffee and sandwiches.

Also read: Raipur’s Nukkad café empowers transgender and specially abled people by hiring them