Raj Chopra and Clifford Rodrigues do things differently. They may be serving curries, kebabs, naans, and pints of beer at their desi pub in Gravesend, Kent—V’s Punjabi Bar and Grill—but they have also been helping their community in different ways during the pandemic.
Since January 2022, this popular pub has doubled as a vaccination clinic after Chopra, a pharmacist by trade, realized the town he grew up in did not have enough capacity for COVID-19 jabs. They’ve now vaccinated roughly 10,000 people, helping the vulnerable who couldn’t travel to nearby towns on public transportation.
“I spoke to my MP [Member of Parliament],” says Chopra, whose dad became very ill with COVID-19 when the first wave struck. “He was driving people to other towns [for vaccinations] and the capacity was desperately needed. We’ve got a nice [tent] out there [in the beer garden]. So I thought, ‘Why not give something back to the community?’”
Chopra hired Rodrigues to manage the pub, freeing him up to facilitate this vital medical work and serve as the behind-the-scenes businessman. It’s a partnership built on trust and fueled by the pub’s friendly atmosphere—leading to national newspaper headlines about “kebabs and jabs.” When I visited a few months ago, I was amused to see masked senior citizens waiting in what looked like a long line for the doctor’s office as sizzling mixed-grill platters whisked past them.
Now the surge of vaccinations is over, but that hasn’t stopped the pub from continuing to welcome crowds. “We don’t scrimp on cost when it comes to the quality of ingredients and the time the chefs put into cooking,” Chopra says. “So we have many customers who return.” Desi pubs are often the thumping heart of the communities they are embedded in, but Chopra took this a step further by ensuring locals would remember this hub for keeping them safe in the pandemic.
Words,David Jesudason