Urooz Hussain, a Noida-based transwoman entrepreneur is breaking all the stereotypes set by society and stepping into entrepreneurship, social work and restaurant industry. Hussain owns a restaurant in Noida and is a social worker who is actively involved in the LGBTQ community. Her cafe, Street Temptations opened its door on 21st November 2019 and has been one of the most liked LGBTQ friendly spaces in the NCR.

Hussain invested around INR 8 lacs to set up the whole cafe with a staff strength of six. While the business was on a spree, the pandemic gave a major halt to the operations. “We tried to maintain the strength after lockdown to support them and their families but the situation was not that good. We had to pull down the team strength to three and now we might have to put the operations on hold,” Hussain sadly expressed.

Like other restaurant businesses across the nation, the pandemic has hit Hussain badly. She is now struggling to stay afloat amid the ongoing crisis. “After March 2020, Covid spoiled everything, I had put a whole lot of my savings into this business. Post-March 2020 we started seeing a sudden decrease in the footfall, we anticipated a better recovery, but are seeing no better days,” Hussain said.

Now, as of today street temptations is closed because of the losses due to the pandemic. Hence, Ministry of Sound India has taken the initiative to support Urooz Hussain, through crowdfunding, celebrate the pride month and help reestablish her business.