Thangzuala (name changed) life seemed completely normal until she experienced persistent fever, diarrhea and infections late last year. Concerned about rapid weight loss, the 24-year-old man typed his symptoms into his phone.

When HIV came up as a possible cause, he panicked. Clinics, helplines and next steps are also listed in the search results. But he wasn’t sure where to start – or, indeed, whether to even start. “How could this happen to me,” he recalls asking himself. “For me, HIV was a disease of sex workers and drug users. I was afraid of being called immoral.”

He was struggling with the idea of ​​visiting a testing center when he came across an Instagram post by the Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) about a new health and outreach centre, called SPOT or ‘Safe Space for Open Talk’. The liberating sound of its name, along with the promise of free HIV services, was an instant attraction, but what attracted her more were the accompanying sights: The place didn’t look like a clinic.

The next day, Thangzuala found himself in the basement of the Mizoram Deputy Commissioner (MUP) headquarters in Aizawl, where he discovered a lively café that not only offered liquor and snacks, but also free HIV and STI testing, condoms, counseling and support.

Before long, Thangzuala was answering the counselor’s gentle questions at a leisurely pace. For the first time since his turmoil began, he was at peace without attracting attention. Finally, encouraged by the counselor’s offer to accompany him, he agreed to visit a testing center.

anti clinic

Opened on 9 February this year, SPOT is rewriting the rules for engaging with young people on sexual health. In its cozy, intimate setting – with a graffiti wall, TVs, karaoke and fun games – young people can feel at home, even among the condom dispensers and counselors.

Mizoram’s picture-postcard landscape has long belied a staggering public health challenge. One of India’s smallest states – the second smallest by population and fifth smallest by area – Mizoram has the country’s highest HIV prevalence, currently at 2.75% of the population, and the highest incidence with new cases at around 0.9%, according to the India HIV Projections 2025 Technical Report.

Between April 2025 and January 2026, Mizoram recorded 1,478 new cases – 955 men and 523 women, including 86 pregnant women. “What is of particular concern is that the majority of people testing positive are in their most productive years,” says Dr. Jane Rinsangi Ralte, project director of MSACS.

The situation is further complicated by the influx of cheap drugs across the open border with Myanmar, part of Southeast Asia’s drug-producing Golden Triangle; extremely low condom use; and ‘serial monogamy’, where multiple monogamous relationships in a lifetime increase the risk of HIV transmission.

At one time this epidemic was almost entirely driven by intravenous drug use. That has now fallen to about 27%. About 70% of new cases are due to sexual transmission.

Shadows outside, humans inside

It is against this grim backdrop that SPOT has emerged as a first-of-its-kind, people-centric health initiative, created through a partnership between MSACS and AHF India Cares, the India program of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a US-based non-profit. SPOT is not a clinic trying to mimic a café, but rather a social hub that aims to normalize conversations and care around sexual health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

“In a state where adult HIV prevalence is almost 13 times the national average, we need to look beyond incrementalism,” says Lalrinpui, Mizoram’s health and family welfare minister. He has revived the NACO-mandated Legislative Forum on AIDS in Mizoram and raised ₹20 lakh through MLA contributions to help those who are not able to travel to ART (antiretroviral therapy) centres. “Unfortunately, the age group most affected is also the most reluctant to seek help,” she says.

The Minister believes that innovation must become the cornerstone of public health to destigmatize services. “New models like SPOT, combined with rights-based national and international principles and frameworks, bridge the gaps left by traditional systems,” she says. “The initial response to SPOT represents a great opportunity for us to institutionalize innovative approaches to provide clinical outcomes with dignity and comfort. We aim to scale up such cafes across Mizoram. They can also be replicated across India, keeping local cultures in mind.”

Prevention can only work if youth do not feel limited to a statistic. “It is unrealistic to expect them to go to traditional health facilities that will leave them feeling judged,” says Dr. V. Sam Prasad, country program director, AHF India Cares. “SPOT meets youth where they already are – socially, emotionally, culturally – to help them manage their health with confidence and dignity. For young adults in Mizoram, this can make the difference between meaningful engagement and being left behind.”

In this way the café becomes more than just a setting. “It is important to come out of the closet to replace stigma with empathy. This is where SPOT can play an important role,” says Henry Zodinliana Pachuau, professor of social work at Mizoram University and co-author of several national and global studies on HIV/AIDS and STIs in Mizoram. “Amid the state’s growing café culture, SPOT provides the right encouragement for young people to not only talk openly about STIs, but also benefit from vital guidance on healthy behaviors and harm reduction services like syringe distribution and opioid replacement therapy.”

The name SPOT was intentional. “In the Mizo language, ‘spot’ refers to illegal places where people go to drink alcohol or consume drugs,” explains Dr. Ralte. “We wanted to change that negative connotation.”

In just a few weeks since opening, SPOT has welcomed dozens of youth, many as young as 10, who come after school or college, between work shifts, during a date, or while hanging out with friends. They look for life-critical answers, mental health support, relationship advice and free condoms – in a discreet environment, free from tedious appointments and explanations.

Just like in real life, curiosity often starts this way. For example, a 10-year-old girl wanted to visit with her parents to understand how SPOT can help children her age deal with stress and confusion.

With all my heart, no judgment

“For me, SPOT feels like the safe space I didn’t have when I first found out I was HIV positive,” says Vanlalruati Kolni, activist and founder of Mizoram’s Positive Women Network. She was one of the earliest Mizo women to publicly disclose her HIV positive status in 2003. “I have lived through the brutal regime of fear and shame that living with HIV can break people to such an extent that they lose even the desire to ask for help,” she adds. “The spot humanizes the challenges that ignorance and suffering pose to young people. This is what is needed in the fight against HIV/AIDS – compassion, courage and caring without judgment.”

SPOT has a great company in town that is inventing new ways to pierce the shroud of austerity, like the giant 30-foot building. Condom billboards – Aizawl’s first – and the unique ‘Love Brigade 2.0’ campaign, where two-wheeler taxi riders wear condom jackets and distribute free protection. Still, Dr. Ralte says, finding space for SPOT was difficult. “We wanted a central location, but most people were hesitant to rent space to us. Eventually, Laltanpuia, owner of the Aizawl Art Gallery, offered us about 400 square feet of space below the gallery and with the support of MUP the project became a reality.”

Dr. Ralte says SPOT will soon launch dual-kit HIV and syphilis testing. “There is already a growing demand to introduce blood testing as well.”

SPOT wants a positive diagnosis to be the beginning of care, not the end of hope. “We can’t turn people away from certain tasks, but we can certainly give them safer alternatives,” Dr. Ralte concluded.

The author is an independent journalist and commentator.

Last Updated:March 12, 2026, 16:13 IST

From briquettes, solar powered systems to steam cookers, firewood and oil based kitchens, many of India’s mega community kitchens are largely insulated from the current LPG crisis.

Across India, the ripple effects of the Iran–Israel conflict are now being felt far from the battlefield. LPG supply concerns have begun affecting homes, hostels and restaurants, forcing many households to ration cooking gas and rethink daily meals.

Yet in some of the country’s largest community kitchens where tens of thousands and sometimes lakhs of meals are prepared every day, the stoves have not slowed down. “In the backdrop of the ongoing LPG supply situation across the country, we want to reassure that our efforts to nourish 2.35 million children remain fully protected,” Sri Bharatarshabha Dasa, National President and Trustee of The Akshaya Patra Foundation, told News18.

The assurance highlights a larger story playing out across India’s religious kitchens. Many of them are built around steam systems, solar power and alternative fuels that reduce reliance on LPG cylinders.

Steam Kitchens Feeding Millions

Akshaya Patra, which runs one of the world’s largest mid-day meal programmes, feeds more than 2.35 million schoolchildren daily across India. While it operates 78 kitchens nationwide, only six of them rely on LPG.

The spokesperson of the foundation told News18 that petroleum companies such as GAIL and BW LPG supply LPG to these kitchens under CSR programmes, often delivered a month in advance. “So currently these LPG dependent kitchens have enough stock to sustain at least a month. By then, schools start summer vacation and the kitchens stop functioning for a limited time anyway,” the spokesperson said.

More importantly, the organisation’s kitchens are designed differently from conventional cooking setups.

“Akshaya Patra’s centralized kitchens are predominantly steam based with steam generated by boilers run by electricity or fuelled by briquettes. Many kitchens are also powered by PNG,” Bharatarshabha Dasa explained. “As a result, our LPG dependency is significantly lower than what it may appear.”

In Bengaluru, for example, two Akshaya Patra kitchens prepare mid-day meals for 1,15,918 children across 759 schools. Instead of LPG, they primarily use briquettes sourced from local farmers to power large steam cookers.

Solar Cooking at Tirumala

At Tirumala, one of India’s busiest pilgrimage centres, the annadanam programme continues to serve massive numbers of devotees every day despite concerns about LPG availability.

Officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams told News18 that there will be no disruption in the daily free meal service at the Vengamamba Annaprasada Kendra in Tarigonda, where between 1 lakh and 1.5 lakh devotees are fed daily.

The kitchen uses a solar steam cooking system along with modern equipment to prepare rice, pongal, curd rice, sambar and dal for devotees. TTD officials said the temple also has a large agreement with the Indian Oil Corporation to supply gas for annadanam. In case of shortages, alternative systems including biogas and electrical induction stoves can be used.

To strengthen infrastructure further, another state-of-the-art kitchen and dining complex is being built in Tirumala at a cost of Rs 120 crore in collaboration with Reliance.

Sunlight in Shirdi’s Temple Kitchen

At the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in Maharashtra, renewable energy has been quietly supporting the temple’s massive kitchen for years.

The temple’s prasadalaya feeds between 35,000 and 50,000 devotees daily, making it one of India’s largest temple kitchens. To manage the scale, the kitchen usually consumes around 1.5 to 2 tonnes of LPG every day.

However, a solar cooking system installed in 2009 helps reduce that consumption significantly. The solar setup is primarily used to cook staples such as rice and dal and saves around 200 kg of LPG every day.

During periods of fuel uncertainty or heavy pilgrim rush, such as festivals like Ram Navami, the renewable system acts as a crucial support to keep the kitchen running smoothly.

Langar That Never Stops

At the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Langar continues to operate 24 hours a day, serving thousands of devotees who arrive from across India and abroad.

“There has never been any shortage in the Langar arrangement at Sri Darbar Sahib, nor will any be allowed to occur,” Bhagwant Singh Dhangera, Manager of Sri Darbar Sahib, told News18.

He explained that around 1,300 units of gas are used daily through a pipeline system, while an additional 25 to 30 LPG cylinders are maintained as emergency backup. Gas agencies remain in constant contact with the temple management to ensure uninterrupted supply.

Mr Dhangera emphasised that the Langar is more than just a kitchen. “Langar is not just a kitchen but a symbol of service, equality and brotherhood,” he said, adding that the management has also appealed to the Central Government to ensure that no shortage ever affects the Guru’s house.

No Problem At Dharmasthala

In Karnataka’s Dharmasthala Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple, Dakshina Kannada district, rice, sambar and all other food items on their regular menu has remain unchanged. “We don’t use LPG in our kitchens. We use steam boilers and use diesel as a back up fuel. So we haven’t changed anything and continue to serve the devotees as usual” said a senior official to News18.

But, other temples mostly under the state government’s Muzrai department are facing the heat of LPG shortage. Kukke Subramanya temple has changed their prasada menu from Pongal and other cooked items to Avalakki-Mosaru (Poha-curds) and such simple items that don’t use much fuel.

Similarly, Banashankari temple in Bengaluru has stopped their morning and afternoon meal program which has rice in it from March 11, 2026. “We have only 4 LPG cylinders left now and are managing basic prasada preparation. We will have to stop all prasada distribution from this Friday” said Krishnappa, executive officer of Banashankari temple.

Mysuru’s Sri Chamundeshwari temple administration has decided to continue afternoon free meals for two weeks and then decide after assessing the situation later. Male Mahadeshwara Temple in Karnataka has also decided to use up the current stock of LPG they have and decide later.

From Cotton Wood To Oil-Based Kitchens

Meanwhile, many prominent places in Gujarat that feed a large number of people regularly have found alternative ways to tackle the issue. Jayeshbhai Upadhyay, a trustee of the Bolbala Charitable Trust in Rajkot, which feeds thousands every day, told News18, “Due to the shortage of LPG cylinders, cooking has become difficult. As an alternative, the organization has started cooking on wood-fired stoves to provide food to the needy. Dishes like curry, khichdi, roti, and rotla can be easily prepared on a stove.”

Bharatbhai, a trustee of the Jalaram Charitable Trust in Virpur, who also arranges daily meals for thousands of people, told News18, “Currently, there is difficulty in cooking due to the cut in gas cylinders, but the service work will not stop. We have started cooking some dishes on the stove with the help of wood. We are getting fewer cylinders than we need, so we are preparing some things on the stove and some on gas.”

Another major temple in Gujarat, the Bagdana Bapa Sitaram temple, also provides free food to thousands of people every day. However, gas is not used for cooking here. Instead, food is prepared using dry cotton wood year-round. Similarly, at Salangpur Dham, where thousands of meals are served daily, the entire kitchen is high-tech. Electricity and gas are not used for cooking there, as they utilize an oil-based kitchen system.

Kitchens Built for Crisis

Taken together, these massive community kitchens reveal a little-known truth. While India’s households depend heavily on LPG cylinders, many of its largest food programmes have already moved toward diversified energy systems such as steam boilers, solar cooking, briquettes, PNG pipelines and biogas.

That quiet transition now appears to be paying off. Even as concerns about LPG supply ripple through ordinary homes, the giant kitchens feeding millions every day continue to cook, serve and sustain.