It was in 1976 when India was in an emergency mode and civil liberties were curbed that a 23-year-old young man, Aroon Narula was running a canteen called Cafe Commune in Lady Sri Ram College with success. Eager to try something different, he toyed with the idea of a mobile van selling Chinese food and ice creams at various locations in Delhi. Aware that an unheard concept as this, in India, would present stumbling blocks he decided to tackle them one by one. He shared his ideas with Sunil Bhandari, a dear friend of his who had a keen sense of designing and roped him in. At a prodigious amount of four thousand rupees, he bought a Dodge, discarded by the American Embassy. With the help of Sunil, he designed an 18 square feet kitchen and made provisions for the basic necessities needed for the operation of a kitchen. Two tanks were installed, one for clean, running water and the other served as a wastewater tank. There was a freezer, an exhaust on the roof of the van, the service counter was made on both sides with fly proofing and the driver seat was converted into a cashier counter when selling food. After the conversions, fittings and changing to a diesel engine, he had spent Rs 23,000 in all.
