“Flavors of Lucknow” , Blog by Abhishek Agarwal, and it’s contribution towards the fight against Covid-19 Cri

Abhishek Agarwal

As soon as there was an upsurge in the covid cases in India, Abhishek started getting a lot of requests on his Instagram and Facebook page of "Flavors of lucknow" for help. Seeing all the crisis and urgency, Abhishek stopped all the food posts immediately and started helping people with verified leads on Covid protocols, Helplines, Hospital beds, Nodal officers numbers, hospital Admission processes, Food deliveries for covid patients, Essentials, plasma donors availability, Ambulance and many more.

Never before in human history has it been possible to communicate so quickly during a pandemic, social media platforms have been a key piece for the dissemination of information.

But, it is recommended to follow some basic guidelines when sharing information on social networks in the COVID-19 era.

When did you realise that Lucknow needed help ?

Abhishek says "it started in early April, there was a panic situation since people were less aware about the things happening with them. Everywhere there was a mess-Oxygen scarcity, not much awareness about medicines and protocols.

So I initially started with guiding people about the medicines and daily routine as per government protocols. I floated all the verified information regarding emergency helpline numbers, medical shops, online doctors consultation, Verified oxygen details with officer in charge at various plants. Slowly people got awareness about all the things and help was reaching them. There were many challenges in getting verified leads since many people started hoarding. In order to act according to the government guidelines and protocols, we took help of some close friends who were associated with Leading NGO's, some helpful websites and whatsapp groups of Lucknow youth who were getting verified leads daily. This is how we started with solving people problems.

We are still making sure that all the resources and help reach people on time. In the beginning we were traumatised seeing so many queries, we were getting almost 500 messages daily which was almost impossible to reply. My weekly impressions reached 50 Lakhs with 30 thousand profile visits. This made me realise that people really need more help., I sought help from my friends Saumya Agarwal and Sakshi Shukla for replies and they are managing all the things really well.

Special mention for Arushi tripathi and Tesjaswini Tondon for always being there ready with all the leads and helping everyone.

How is the current situation according to you?

I feel blessed at this point of time that my country is healing and we are in such a better place now. With the cases falling down gradually and the lockdown lifting up in some states, it is my humble request to each and every person " to not forget what we've all been through and how tough the times were" . We still have to take all the required precautions and step out only for essential outings.

I am happy that my blog " Flavors of Lucknow" Is coming handy for needy who require help in this tough time. I am always ready to help. Also, the ones who are in good health please get vaccinated as soon as possible, I got vaccinated myself and its totally safe.

What next are you planning on your blog - "Flavors of lucknow"?

It's now time that we all get back to our works all geared up and equipped. I'll soon start covering the long waited yumilicious food that people had been craving for all throughout the lockdown, but obviously with all the precautions. I'll be focusing on covering the stories of street food vendors who couldn't operate for the past 2 months (what they've faced and how are they recovering). A lot of these vendors would want people to know about their re-openings. Most of the story content on our page will be driven by guiding them about the safety measures and precautions they need to take while operating. Also, the places that have suffered losses during the pandemic will be supported by us through promotions.

So stay tuned!!!