Paras Soni

When we are assured of our next meal, occasionally, we miss our meal time, and we don’t realize it. But when one does not have that guarantee, the timing of a meal becomes exceptionally critical. I saw this first hand during this lockdown while working for Khaanachahiye in one of their kitchens, THE THA’L CO.

A person who used to collect 2,000 meals from us every day for dinner used to be extremely particular about timing. Even if we were a few minutes late, he used to have a problem.
One day I asked him why he was so paranoid about time. He told me that he was distributing food to people stranded near Kurla Station. They didn’t have a home to go back to. So they used to hide from the police in a few spots near the station. At 7:00 PM every day, police used to begin their surveillance rounds. If the people stranded didn’t get their food by then, they had to go hungry for the night.

Our team at Khaanachahiye was always heedful of time. But after hearing the plight of those beneficiaries, we became extra vigilant about time. Once, our rice deck got spoiled. We had to change the entire batch. Usually, this takes many hours. But we did it in less than an hour, thanks to nothing but the sheer commitment of the whole team.

My experience in multiple kitchens of Khaanachahiye was full of such challenges. But every time, we overcame them, because all of us are wholly committed to this cause. If we, as a society, fight the pandemic in the same spirit, I believe that we shall overcome this challenge too.

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