Pune's popular south-Indian restaurant, Vaishali has finally opened its doors for takeout and delivery amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Food enthusiasts and regulars thronged to the diner in an orderly fashion to grab their cravings.
Started as Madras Cafe in the 50s and later Madras Health Home, Vaishali, located at FC Road, has been standing for over 60 years in business and is a landmark in Pune. It has always been one of the city’s most respected and well-loved places. Bollywood celebs like Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have also made a visit here.
Popular food options include Mysore Masala Dosa, Idli, Upma, Bhel Puri, and Sandwich.
Tejas Julkari, a Reddit user states, "If you want to feel the aura or get to know about the typical Puneri culture you must visit this place in the morning. To me the food at Vaishali has always been good, but that’s not what always takes me back there. I am most intrigued by the stories of Vaishali that I hear from the old timers, the relaxed ambience (despite the rush) and the happy chatter when you sit and eat an obvious sign that people are having a great time!
"It’s usually the mornings and late afternoons, those relaxed hours when the rest of the world is busy at work, when the old timers come here to meet friends. There are many such groups who meet here every single day for South Indian Filter coffee and conversations," he adds.
The spread of the novel coronavirus has shown no indication of slowing down with the increase mercury, in fact in the last 15 days it has steadily climbed the graph adding in two weeks more cases than it did in the first 100 days. On Tuesday, the Health Ministry Data revealed that there were 6,535 new cases added in 24 hours which also witnessed 146 new fatalities.
Maharashtra alone has 36 per cent caseload of the total confirmed cases in the entire country. It has reported 52,667 cases and 1,695 fatalities.
India is now among the ten countries worst hit by the pandemic that has over 5 million cases worldwide.
