Rajni and Mona are business partners who have jointly opened an Indian restaurant that has become quite popular among foreign faces in Hangzhou. In the last few years, Hangzhou locals have gradually become accustomed to exotic cuisine and the restaurant has seen more and more Chinese faces.

Rajni says, “to let consumers feel at home” is their original intention of opening the restaurant. It will never change. “Over the past years, we have insisted on using the most authentic Indian spices and strictly controlled every stage involving food ingredient.”Introduces Raj, the manger of Xixi branch of pita's & tika's. Raj is also an Indian, thanks to the years of running the restaurant, he is able to speak Chinese fluently. 

Having been in Hangzhou for twenty years, Rajni's family has become fully integrated into local life. "My children, who are now studying abroad, have lived in Hangzhou before that." Mona says, "Now whenever they mention that they want to go home, they refer to the home as 'Hangzhou' instead of their hometown India!"

Rajni and Mona have a special affection for Hangzhou. “We are grateful for the help and support from the Hangzhou government, community and friends. We have also done our best to requite society over the years." From 2019 on, Rajni and Mona have organized "pita's & tika's" charity gala evenings with a hotel in Hangzhou on the festival of Diwali (one of the most important festivals in India, which symbolizes the defeat of darkness by the light of humanity), calling on the Indian community in Hangzhou and more Chinese and foreign families to join the charity events.

The two charity gala evenings have raised more than 7 million yuan (1 million dollars) to provide financial assistance to dozens of students from poor families so as to fulfill their dreams.

"If you compare life in 2001 with that nowadays, Hangzhou has really gone through a radical change!" The two Indian lady bosses recall, "In the past, when we needed something, we often had to go to Shanghai to buy it. Now we can buy whatever we need in Hangzhou. Our life quality has also improved a lot."

"Twenty years ago, if people talked about Hangzhou, they would only think of the West Lake, and all the recreations revolving around West Lake: eating, walking, shopping, and so on. It is different now. As long as you swipe your mobile phone, you can take different vehicles and go to different places since the connectivity of urban traffic has also been greatly improved." They say.

Rajni and Mona have a stable business and a happy family. They speak candidly that their life is getting better and better in this wonderful city.

(Editor: Zhou Xunnan)