Husband stopped talking, relatives mocked yet this 65-year-old Amma built a 2.5 crore tiffin empire in Patna herself

A 65-year-old woman in Patna has dismantled the traditional notion of retirement by scaling a small-scale home tiffin service into a multi-crore restaurant enterprise, despite possessing no formal education or marketing strategy. Devni Devi, the founder of the now-famous "Amma’s Kitchen," began her venture as a desperate measure to support her family’s rising expenses, initially selling meals for just ₹20 to medical students. What started as a solo mission in a scorching 50°C kitchen has evolved into one of the city's most successful food outlets, currently recording an annual turnover of ₹2.5 crore and providing employment to 15 local workers.

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Social Stigma

Devni Devi’s journey was rooted in "thankless drudgery" within a large joint family where her role was limited to household duties for decades. When she moved to Patna for her children’s education and decided to monetize her cooking skills, she was met with immediate backlash. “It was looked upon as chhota kaam,” she told TOI, recalling how relatives questioned if her husband earned enough to support her. The social pressure was so severe that her husband stopped speaking to her for months, yet she continued to toil in the kitchen because she felt students were "deprived of clean, nutritious home food."

Amma’s Kitchen Patna

Just as her business began to gain momentum, the pandemic threatened to erase her progress as students fled the city. Rather than shutting down, Devni Devi pivoted her model, personally delivering food to individual homes. Her son, Durgesh, a communications professional, told TOI that the "magic" was never in a marketing plan but in the "intention with which you work." Eventually, social media photos and videos uploaded by her family went viral, turning the kitchen-based service into a commercial takeaway and restaurant that consistently ranks in the top tier of the city's food delivery apps.

Women’s Financial Independence

Now a successful entrepreneur, Devni Devi uses her platform to encourage other women to break away from financial dependence. She often challenges educated women by asking, “Tum to padhe-likhe ho, tum kama kyun nahi lete apna?” (You are educated, why don't you earn for yourself?). She remains a firm believer that financial self-reliance allows women to support their families on equal footing with men. Her son reflects on her legacy with pride, noting that his mother’s life has taught a "beautiful lesson" that good work always pays, regardless of the resources one starts with.