Religion and Street Food

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STREET FOOD VENDORS

This project includes observations and interviews with a few sketches on sight.

Location: Mosque Road, Frazer Town, Bangalore

Dil Pasand Tea House
Strong smell of tea was felt while I stood there to see people standing outside this small teashop. People of different age groups were seen around. A man stood there suited and even local workers around making no difference in the kind of people of class that came. Mostly Muslim men were found because of the Masjid on the road. A drunken man sat inside the teahouse and sipped tea joyfully.
History: The shop was owned by a man and had for other helpers. He was a local stayed in Bangalore who believed in Allah and said she happily owns this Teahouse for ten years now.
Look of the stall: A shabby looking teahouse with the cash counted on the right of the entry. A tube light hanging from the roof above to light the counter. Inside were four tables and eight joint benches, two for each. Each table had one ashtray each. On the left was a glass wooden dirty cupboard on which was dumped a lot of trash. Old and scrap papers, an empty carton, a plastic bag with empty cigarette boxes and an old STD booth phone. The place had patterned white tiles on the walls and grey tiles on the floor.

A conversation with the owner who sat there on the cash counter.
Why is the stall named that way?
The stall is named Dil Pasand because he says everyone loves tea. It is something that makes people happy so my elder named it this way.
What all do you sell here?
We sell tea, which is our main product but apart from that TOcean mineral water, cigarettes and samosas for snack with tea. Samosa is not made here. We buy it from a nearby shop. One person from the shop goes to collect in a carton and then empties on the steel tray on the reception.
What are the timings for the opening and closing and buying of raw materials? We open at 4 in the evening and close by 11 at night, the peak hour being somewhere around 7. We do not need to go to buy raw materials. We get packets of milk delivered by 5.30 in the morning. Two of the workers stay here so they receive and boil and prepare for the evening.
How many cups of tea do you sell on an average daily?
We sell around 600 to 700 cups of tea everyday each costing Rs.8
How much are the workers paid?
They are paid on a daily basis and each one is paid differently. The main person who makes the tea and is always in the kitchen is paid Rs350 daily.

Health and Hygiene: The repeated action of cleaning the glasses seemed very unhygienic. The man inside kept receiving used glasses from the open window that the kitchen had and poured some water, put in a utensil that had water and kept on the other side. No use of soap for cleaning the glasses. The kitchen had walls that had black patches all over. The utensil in which the tea was made had stains of tea overflowing around. Milk stains on the gas stove. Two workers slept in the kitchen’s small storage space that was above the kitchen entry roof. The place was not maintained and was kept scattered and dirty.

Some of these sketches will show you how it actually looked like:

Food’s currys and pickles (veg and nonveg)

The stall is on the opposite footpath of the Masjid. While crossing smell of tea kabaabs is what one gets. Crowd of people stood outside ordering, waiting, eating outside the shop. Mostly Muslims were seen but the food place had visitors who were Muslims, Hindus, and Christians. They served beef and thus Hindus were their rare customers.
History and more: A middle-aged man who started 12 years ago owned this food place. He had 10 people who were working. They also sell at colleges and put up stalls throughout the year on special orders apart from the time when the Muslims have Ramadan because that is when they have orders the most.
Look of the stall: There were 2 entries. One for the place to sit and the other for the kitchen from where one person collected kabaabs made on the corner outside, both opened on the footpath. In the middle of both entries was the cash counter outside the shop. Near the kitchen opening was a small display of the various dishes and the special being Chicken Kadi Gosht, Bombay dish.

Conversation with the owner who went around invigilating.
What all do you sell here?
We only sell non veg items mutton, chicken, beef, kabaabs, rolls, noodles and a few gravy dishes.
But why no veg food, because your board says veg and non veg?
We had veg food earlier and then we stopped because 90% customers only wanted non veg. My sale for veg food was very limited. So now we stopped veg at all. Moreover the board says that because we stopped recently and we did not get time to change to the new one. (Misleading customers)
What are the timings for the opening and closing and buying of raw materials? We open at 4 in the evening and close by 11 at night. By 12 noon we start marinating and buy raw materials by 6 in the morning. We generally stock spices for a week and get oil everyday.
How often do you get the cleaning done?
Daily cleaning happens twice a day, once before open the shop after setting up things and then after we close. The proper cleaning happens once a month.
How many customers visit on an average daily?
We have around 800 to 900 customers daily. Many have become regular customers now and we know their orders even before they tell us.
How much are the workers paid?
I can’t specify how much each one gets but I pay them monthly and they are happy. Most have been working from very long and 4 are working since the time I opened this. Out of which, one sits on the cash counter, the other cooks noodles, one who serves and who cleans.

Health and Hygiene: The repeated action was noticed. Each one was engaged in their own work. One of them only making kabaabs with his hand put on the sticks but there were flies around that. One who made the roti for roll hit it on the table before he passed for filling. The table had flour scattered. The roti area outside, on the footpath was a mess. The kitchen had food all around the slab and was not maintained. The kabaab sticks were kept in a drum that was black inside and they used the same to put kabaab balls on it.
Some of these sketches will show you how it actually looked like.

It is certainly surprising to see how one religious place- Temple or Mosque actually take a strong hold on the majority of the population at a particular place. Not just that, the culture of the place changes entirely: from food to dressing to language to aroma that one feels from being around at that place.
Street food is largely depended on different communities who experience these foods.
Not just that, the study on this has lead to a better understanding of the life of vendors to me. There are a lot of elements that comes along when a vendor decides to sell a particular dish on the street- why street, why that dish, what customers, which place, how to start, how to go about the growth of it and a lot more.

Experience on Theological Effect on two different places.
I stood at two different places to see a major difference in both the place.
While I observed standing at Mosque road, I noticed that the Muslim community dominated it. The place had a big Masjid and men mostly wore white caps. Not many women were seen. Not a single lady vendor was around. I stood there to smell kabaabs, rolls, and tandoors. The place was full of Arabic food.
Whereas, my experience at Jayanagar was completely opposite. There was a Swatambar Jain Mandir and Hindu community dominated the place. I smelled only kachori sabzi, paani puri and chat strongly while I stood at Cool joint, which was a big ice cream place there. The women vendor sold earrings and bangles just opposite to the road.
It is certainly surprising to see how one religious place- Temple or Mosque actually take a strong hold on the majority of the population at a particular place.
Not just that, the culture of the place changes entirely: from food to dressing to language to aroma that one feels from being around at that place.
Does one community actually feel uncomfortable of being at a place, which is not dominated by them?
Yes they do. I observed a lady in burkha who came to the Cool Joint at Jayanagar. She certainly did feel the Hindu dominance at the place and expressed an uncomfortable behavior. She ordered an ice cream and went to take her seat. She sat at the bench on the right side where nobody sat whereas on the left side sat a few men and women on the couple of benches arranged there. She sat alone to enjoy her ice cream. After about 15 mins there came a group of three other women in the same dress with a man who wore his white cap. They placed their order too and took their place on the right bench. It seemed quiet evident that they being a part of a different community, they did feel the comfort by creating a small group amongst themselves. This happened because the place had a certain community that empowered the other and that changed the behavior of these men and women.

After my visit to both of these places, I was keen on exploring on the Social Life of the vendor. What made me move towards this topic was when I spoke to the person on the kabaab stall at Mosque Road in my first visit. In our conversation he mentioned how busy the stall gets during Ramadan. They work overtime and also put up extra stalls outside their main stalls for more profit. They do not get time to celebrate with family and friends because that is when business is at its peak.
I put myself into his shoes and think for a while and wonder how would it be to not celebrate any festival, no breaks, not much entertainment but focus on work always. How it makes a difference to me to treat myself for a vacation, spend time with family and friends or maybe just go for a movie when I want to or just sit back home to watch cricket with my brother.

Do they really have a life as mine? Can they actually take a break for sometime just because they feel stressed? Is it easy for them to shut their stalls and watch India Pakistan play back home, or a at a friend’s place to cheer out loud when Dhoni hits a boundary? Is a social life for them as easy as mine?
I question and question.

-Thank you-