Agra's Cafe SHEROES reopens

Agra, Oct 21 (IANS) Finally after a wait of eight months, one of SHEROES cafes, run by acid attack survivors reopened, at its new address, closer to the Taj Mahal."It was a difficult phase, but with our limited resources, we used the time to train the acid attack survivors in yoga, English speaking, and other useful skills," said Ashish Shukla of the Chaanv Foundation that supports the "Sheroes Hangout".The Cafe began with five acid attack survivors, in December 2014. Now it supports 10 victims of acid attacks. A Lucknow branch had opened during Akhilesh Yadav's regime.The Cafe has had a large number of celebrities as its guests, including foreign politicians and Bollywood actors.Madhu and Dolly, two survivors are excited as the Cafe reopens with new features and facilities for tourists. "The pandemic has changed everything. We waited for long, but now all geared up for the exciting days ahead," they said.Meghna Gulzar directed the feature film Chapaak, with Deepika Padukone in the lead role as Lakshmi. It featured four victims of acid attacks presently working with the Cafe.
--IANS bk/in