How Parkash Chhibber Chose to Pay Forward Kindness #AtoZChallenge

Parkash Chhibber was off to a good start in life, newly wed and riding a wave of success in his career when he was hit by a car in 1992 while sitting at a bus stop in New Delhi, resulting in nine fractures and leaving him bedridden and without work for two years. Financially, things got so bad that there were days when he and his wife had no food to eat and had to travel on crutches to friends' houses, hoping to be invited for a meal.

"I went from king to beggar in one night," he recalled. During this period, it was friends and family who brought food for him and offered his family support and aid.

Having traveled to Canada in 2005 to restart his life, Parkash Chhibber remembered those hard days years later when he saw homeless people rifling through the dumpsters behind his restaurant.  And he chose to pay to forward the kindness given to him in a truly heartwarming way.

Even today, if you sit at Parkash's restaurant Indian Fusion in Edmonton, Alta in Canada and listen carefully, there is a good chance you will hear a knock at the back door while you devour your naan and chicken tikka. You see, there is a sign on the back door of Indian Fusion that invites anyone who is hungry and has no money to 'knock on the door for a free meal.'

Every morning, the restaurant start by cooking "God's food" - the food for those knock which is the same dishes served to his customers to ensure high quality food for all.

“I have seen enough hunger in the past. I know the pain of not having food.” 

- Parkash Chhibber 

Today, Chhibber serves as many as 1600 hot meals out of the back of his small restaurant every month since the last four years with people often lining up during the lunch rush hour. If the food gets over, they simple cook more. There is no question of sending anyone back hungry. In addition to this, for the last year, he has started serving a buffet dinner to feed 150 more at the Hope Mission once a week.

“I know a lot of people depend upon me at the back door. The people who come through the front door can go anywhere, but this is our responsibility. This door has to be open, we know that. We cannot even think of closing the back door, never.”

- Parkash Chhibber

Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.

The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.

Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.