Lindsay Pereira: Feeding the city on greased palms

Even if every stall outside every railway station were to be legal consider the kind of wisdom that makes it okay for someone to sell fried food in vats of boiling oil at a place frequented by thousands of people at any point of the day Representation picA little over a yearandahalf ago the locality I live in woke up to a fairly large snack stall at the corner It appeared overnight as if by magic with an electricity connection signboards menu and rudimentary seating arrangements Almost instantly driving out of the street onto the arterial road became a problem Rickshaws began to stop at all hours for junk food They would be joined by passersby as the days wore on all stopping for snacks at a place where not long ago there was nothing to obstruct residents from getting out without a fussA little over six months ago the snack stall on the street was joined by a smaller stall right opposite selling grilled meat It started with just a wooden table but quickly evolved into a more elaborate setup with printed menus and a dedicated following of regulars who naturally parked their bikes unevenly to make a difficult situation worse A stall like this would never appear in South Bombay of course because most of the residents there only eat meat on holidays abroad and must zealously propagate the myth of vegetarianism at homeA little over two weeks ago the snack stall and meat grill were joined by a smaller stall selling boiled and fried eggs I donrsquot know how the gentleman selling them thought this to be a good idea considering how narrow the street has always been but this hasnrsquot stopped him from setting up shop like clockwork every day from 6 pm until midnight No one has asked him to move either because if you havenrsquot noticed no one in the city is ever asked to moveWe ldquoadjustrdquo from the day we are born until our loved ones bribe a clerk for a death certificate to mark our passingThe men and women running these dubious stalls on my street know what thousands of others have known for decades if you pay the right person a small amount of money you will be left alone to do business If you choose to do so legally you will simply have to pay more Itrsquos why someone I know who has been trying to run a legal catering business from a suburb is considering shutting down and doing something else instead Apparently he can be hauled up for not obtaining a special licence granted to restaurants which choose to have backlit signboards To put things into perspective A separate licence if you want backlights announcing the name of your restaurant on the one hand and a licencefree existence in the middle of any street you choose on the other provided you pay up Itrsquos easy to see why so many people simply choose to pay upTake a walk outside any railway station of your choice anywhere in the city Try and figure out which of the hundreds of men and women cooking all kinds of things are supposed to be there and which ones are there by virtue of what theyrsquore paying someone Even if every stall outside every railway station were to be legal consider the kind of wisdom that makes it okay for someone to sell fried food in vats of boiling oil at a place frequented by thousands of people at any given point of the day If there hasnrsquot been a horrible accident yet it is simply a question of lsquowhenrsquo not lsquoifrsquo Footpaths donrsquot exist at these places They are controlled by illegal stall owners compelling the rest of us to weave through traffic parents and children in tow just because someone somewhere has been paidThe intelligent men and women who supposedly manage I use the word loosely of course our city intend to open it up to commerce at night They want restaurants to function all the time because that is what lsquoall global citiesrsquo do apparently Their many lsquostudy toursrsquo to these global cities clearly havenrsquot taught them anything about how food must be prepared and sold in a city as densely populated as ours Yes it makes sense for people to have access to food at all hours but when was the last time they managed to shut down restaurants that ran all night illegally anyway Residents of Juhu have been trying to shut down a popular stall that runs all night for decadesOnly the heartless would begrudge honest people trying to earn a living If only they were given an honest option tooWhen he isnrsquot ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom