00:00Celebrated Indian chef Vikas Khanna is emerging as a superhero during the coronavirus lockdown for the hungry and the poor in India.
00:09Sitting in Manhattan, he's done the impossible where he has spearheaded a massive food donation drive
00:16where he has fed millions of meals to the poor and the homeless.
00:21Exclusive interview with Gulf News, Vikas Khanna told us that he wants to run the food drive
00:27with the same dignity and discipline that he takes to run his Michelin-starred restaurants
00:33around the globe. Vikas Khanna has become the portrait of benevolence and generosity during
00:38COVID-19 outbreak and he has revolutionized the concept of throwing celebrity weight for
00:43good worthy causes. He claims it all began with a spam email about the rations running out in
00:50old age homes. My first thought when I got that spam mail was what do they expect me to do sitting
00:56in America? But today I can proudly say that we have crossed 20 million meals, distributed 2
01:02million sanitary pads, 2 million bananas and 2 lakh chappals. There's accountability for every
01:08piece of meal that is eaten. His food packets are kept very simple. There is rice, there's lentil
01:14curry, there's water and of course electrolyte. Vikas Khanna describes his aging mother as his
01:21biggest conscience keeper and how she reminded him that he was just doing his duty towards the
01:27nation sitting thousands of miles away. This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan for Gulf News.
