The Sweet Taste of a Hunger Strike

Jantar Mantar’s street food business zooms, thanks to Anna Hazare

There was some serious business at Jantar Mantar last week. As Anna Hazare observed a fast against corruption, his supporters could be seen devouring idlis and dosas at Jantar Mantar. According to stall owners, protests such as this one set the cash registers ringing. The last days of the protest witnessed people thronging the shops to get a taste of nominally priced Delhi street food.

Such high profile events are manna for vendors—who say business has declined in the past two years. A decrease in the number of bus stops in the vicinity has deprived them of their most regular customers—bus travellers. However, their losses are somewhat compensated when an event as big as this takes place in the neighborhood. “I have sold over 200 glasses of juice during this protest. People get tired and come to my stall for refreshments,” says Dharmendra Singh, whose juice corner has been around for 30 years. However, traditional South Indian fare proved to be the most popular food category, with hundreds of idlis and dosas sold for less than Rs 30 a plate. Bread pakora was yet another item that found favour with customers. “My sales simply doubled during the protest,” beams Mahendra Pal, who has been selling pakoras and patties in the area for 20 years.

With Navratra fasts being observed, sales of aloo and fruit chaat also touched an all-time high. “Several protestors were observing a fast, so they preferred to snack over a plate of chaat,” says Rajkumar, a veteran who plied fast supporters with missi roti and naan.

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Prakas Sao