Why road side food sellers are as impactful as restaurant chain owners?
This month we revolve around the very thing that makes us revolve around -Food. How we miss fine dining! But readers, mask up, stay safe!
CNA Insider’s Slumfood Millionaire Mumbai paints the real-life story about underdogs shooting for the stars and winning the hearts of the common man.
Read up through the six sections to dive into the realms of road side food.
The Prelude
You buzz in at 8:00 A.M in the morning, sloppily lifting yourself from your messy bed, waddling towards the door, trying to pour some coffee. You glance at the wall clock to see you still have 1.5 hours to reach your office. You slowly drink up, shower, and put on your best suit to work when the stomach grumbles, announcing the lavish entry of hunger pangs. There is some sweetness to it — the mouth starts watering, the head starts spinning, and the hand starts flailing, all desperately in search of food.
The time is 9:00 A.M. There is nothing you can do now.
Locking up the door, you jog down the stairwell to make up for the lack of a fitness regimen. You walk across the promenade trying to find Malai your faithful idli vendor, whose steaming hot dollops of heaven can even win your worst enemy.
The Story
“Malai, two idlis with coconut and red chutney”. There, he serves you heaven on a platter. You gulp them down and rush through the glass doors. You never once looking back to see what is behind the happy eyes of the one person who ensures nutritious breakfast is served daily.
Malai looks at you, finding a place in your office. He feels happy he has fed yet another ravaging stomach to its fullest. He cannot sit on this glory. He needs to repeat this feat every day, forgetting that he is educated enough to move into structured labor. The entrepreneurial spirit in him refuses to douse, which gives him the killer instinct to work up a food business with his brothers in the town of Dharavi, India’s largest slum dwelling.
The Journey
The moment the word “slum” is seen, the mental picture we paint has rusty, slimy, filthy neighborhoods with substandard living conditions.
Nothing can be much far from the truth about Dharavi. Its clean surroundings are always bustling with electrifying energy, with 5000 people founding their own businesses.
Malai is one of them.
Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Malai with his brothers sell homemade idlis on the road. The elaborate procedure he diligently follows to make the idlis and the sides delicious are perfectly captured in the documentary series- Slumfood Millionaire. There is no compromise on the quality, quantity of ingredients, and the purity of surroundings. He stands by these standards as scriptures, never once conning his customers.
The Story Part II
On the other side of the book is Sohrab, an older businessman who took his love for Chinese food to the next level. After being employed at a Chinese food chain, Sohrab specialized in Chow Mein — an Indo-Chinese dish that he prepares with a meticulousness that can stun a pastry chef. He deftly performs his duties, never hitting a single snag. He also parts with the remnants with the kids of the slum after calling it a day.
Living in one of the smallest spaces with 4 other people, there is no hint of misery in his voice. He grins throughout the documentary and enjoys his venture to the fullest. There is no sign of a flinch of discomfort. His happiness infects the audience.
The Analysis
The two stories depicted do not pique pity in the audience.
They portray the slum world in its pristine form- strong-headed, driven, energetic spaces which can propel any person to success if they worked hard.
It is not very often we see such an honest portrayal of food and lives entwined together to form a flourishing livelihood. The fulfillment which Sohrad and Malai enjoy is unmatched in structured labor spaces where highly educated people are employed.
The Catharsis
In a world that puts a veil on platter consumption, Malai and Sohrab’s candid words stir trust and confidence in the consumers. This also makes you question the assumption that has been under your nerves for long — the products that come out of low-income areas like Dharavi are fake.
Malai bashes these assumptions with a brickbat, openly showing his strict regimen that he employs to make the myriad of morsels that he sells. He is proud he is an entrepreneur, even more so as his family supports him. Moreover, his own competitors urge him to strive harder and win the chase.
There is no blatant questioning in the documentary. Everything is felt innately and indirectly.
- I, for one, started analyzing my biased opinions about roadside food and if they were healthy for consumption.
- The manufacturing, packaging, and handling of food on the roadside may not appeal to the majority.
- What more, the sheer clothes the vendors wear may not win customers. Despite everyone repeating not to judge a book by its cover, in reality, the human mind does it before greeting. Sad, I know!
The Synopsis
The documentary breaks all these assumptions to show that there is some morality left in this world. Roadside food spaces are comparable to fine dining restaurants in all possible ways except the ambiance. They are as capable of cultivating world-class eating experiences as the documented eateries. They can be equally successful in terms of turnover when contrasted with the profits of established hotel chains.
All these odds do not favor these people. However, they are crushing all the barriers and are flying high. They are happy where they are. They wish to bloom wherever they are planted. The contentment towards the self and wish to make others comfortable are indirectly making them achieve better profits. It just furthers the effect as the cause is noble.
Slumfood Millionaire is the perfect ode to startup journeys in food that can thrive without venture capital funding or intense marketing campaigns.
Establishing a heartful connection with the customer can create a fan base for yourself that can propel your business to success.
About the author: Vijayalakshmi Swaminathan is a part time engineer and full time ranter. You can reach out to her at vijihamsini@gmail.com
