Speech & hearing impaired run restaurant - Fusion - WeRIndia

In the Powal area of Mumbai, there is a restaurant called Mirchi and Mime. On the outside, it might look normal; however, there is something very unique about the restaurant. The restaurant has 27 servers and all of them are hearing and speech impaired.

Started with the purpose of bringing the joy of eating out rather than for commercial purposes, the servers here provide food with a joyous and sincere smile. Due to the fact that all the 27 wait staff here are hearing and speech impaired (SHI), people might assume that having a meal here is complicated. However, the people who eat here know otherwise.

The process of eating here is quite simple. The menu will provide a list of all food available along with the portion sizes and other eating paraphernalia like salt, pepper, spices, sauces, and even cutlery. The menu also provides next to each item, an illustration which shows the hand-gesture for that item in sign language.

The customer just has to show these hand gestures to place their order. Every dish will have a placard with the name of the food when it reaches the customer’s table.

This unique bar and grill restaurant was started by Prashant Issar and Anuj Shah. They were both alumni of Henley School of Business (UK). They follow a principle they learned during their MBA; to make a business which not just brings wealth to self but also to the society.

The duo was thinking about starting a restaurant together when they heard of Signs, a similar restaurant in Toronto. That was the beginning of Mirchi and Mime. They started by meeting the several boys and girls who would become part of the server staff. They were also very excited to be part of the initiative. The restaurant began a reality in March 2015.

Image Reference: TheBetterIndia