Chef and canteen manager channels culinary skill into service, proving that it is the ordinary people who can do the extraordinary
Dinesh Poojary serving people khichdi at the cart. Pics/Shadab Khan
As life threw us a curve ball with the novel Coronavirus pandemic, Dinesh Poojary, chef and canteen manager, unfazed by the troublesome trajectory, smashed it for a massive six for humanity. Poojary used his years of cooking and canteen management skills to start serving unlimited lunch to people for Rs 10, setting up a food cart at Lower Parel. The initiative began on February 8, 2021.
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Poojary, who is a Kalachowkie resident said, “I have managed canteens for several banks. Contrary to what all the news stated about labourers leaving Mumbai, not all returned to their villages. There were some labourers who stayed behind in the metropolis too, struggling through the pandemic. I started a R10 unlimited lunch.” Poojary explained, “At that time migrant labourers were regulars at the cart.
More than a year on, white-collared professionals, back in offices, also eat at this stall.” Currently, Archana Foundation is bearing the cost for his initiative, through its Anna Seva Maha Seva project. Said Janhavee Droliya, president of the Foundation’s junior wing, while expressing gratitude to their donors, “It has been close to 11 months since we started and we have served 66,000 people plus a hearty meal at Rs 10, and most importantly, maintained their dignity and respect.”
The staffers explained, “We have masala rice, fried rice or dal khichdi on most days. Our fried rice is a real treat,” they laughed. Poojary added, “There is no compromise on quality and of course, quantity. We are also very particular about hygiene. There are no short cuts. The overarching aim was to make some social contribution. I believe the pandemic saw not just the birthing of the new normal, that phrase that was everywhere during the outbreak, but a shift in life’s goalposts altogether. Many, like me, did start seeing life not just through the profit prism. We realised that ordinary persons can make a difference,” said Poojary. The rice-centric menu, served by Poojary and his team of six has one more ‘item’ like they call dishes in local lingo. That item is ‘humanity’. Just like the lunch they serve; they dish that out in unlimited doses.
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