MeaLux Coffee

"Mea Lux" means My Light. We hope to be a light in lives of young people and our community. 

We are a coffee business that aims to employ, mentor, and train young people coming out of tough backgrounds so they can become rooted and strengthened to achieve their full potential and become leaders of the future. At the same time, we aim to serve quality beverages and food and to create an atmosphere where customers will experience hope and a sense of acceptance in community. 

Founder, Sayyed Badshah, grew up on the streets of Mumbai after his alcoholic father killed his mother when he was only three. As a young child he was transferred between different government homes, experiencing abuse, and eventually ran away and lived on the streets. There he swept trains with the shirt off his back and begged near the street signals. One night, under a street light, in desperation he cried out for help to an unknown God. That moment under the street light was turning point, because soon after a minister from Bombay Teen Challenge found Sayyed and offered him the opportunity to study.  From that time, through up's and downs, Sayyed has successfully completed a bachelor's degree and a masters in Psychology and Counseling. He desires to see other young people receive opportunities to become  holistically healthy and successful in their lives. He brings his marketing and business skills that he learned on the streets as a child selling trinkets and goods at the railway station and his street smart skills to the business, but also his training as a counselor to help the employees of MeaLux grow and experience a brighter future. 

Sayyed's wife, Regina, grew up in the state of Wisconsin, USA and first came to India in 2013 after studying Intercultural Studies. She desires to see MeaLux be an inviting and community based space where the employees can interact with the guests and make them feel like MeaLux is a second home for them. She looks forward to mentor and train the employees to empower them for the future. Her extensive background in cultural studies and many years in the food and beverage industry will help in developing a coffee shop that will be empowering for the employees, inviting for the customers and excels in  quality of product and atmosphere.