This astrologer gives biryani to 150 strays daily in Nagpur

A SHOT OF HOPE

This astrologer gives biryani to 150 strays daily in Nagpur

Sudhanshu.Bisen@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:19.05.2021

Whenever you go grocery shopping in the city, don’t be surprised to see strays feasting on chicken biryani on the streets. In these times of Covid-induced restrictions, when even some sections of humanity are struggling to get one square meal a day, Nagpur-based astrologer Ranjeet Nath, fondly known as Ranjeet Dada, has been providing this scrumptious dish to around 150 strays.

The 58-year-old astrologer has been cooking nearly 35kg of biryani daily since the onset of the pandemic. “He has been doing this for quite some years now, but his work grew manifold since the pandemic started,” says Rahul Motwani, who has been associated with Ranjeet.

Such is his fondness for stray dogs that he calls them his “bachche” (kids). “I don’t like to call them dogs or stays. I consider all of them as my kids,” says Ranjeet. His day starts with preparations for the biryani. He starts cooking it from noon and goes around the city on his bike at 5pm daily to feed the strays.

“I have 10-12 fixed locations and my ‘bachche’ know them. The moment they see me, they start running towards me,” says Ranjeet, who returns home around midnight after the entire vessel full of biryani is empty.

He does it seven days a week. “Once on the streets, I do not discriminate against strays. I also feed cats but since the biryani has meat, I do not offer it to cows,” he says.

There is less meat and more bones in the chicken biryani. “I get the bony part of the chicken at a cheaper rate, which helps me feed more dogs. Until last month, most of the expenditure was from my pocket,” he says.

“A video featuring Ranjeet’s kind gesture was uploaded by a food blogger after which donations started pouring in,” says Motwani.

KIND-HEARTED: Nagpur-based Ranjeet Nath cooks 35kg of biryani every day