DELHI: The view deters, of people squatting for meals in the front of accommodations by using the lanes of Matia Mahal, demanding my internal peace, raising the query of our responsibility towards humanity.
The road named Matia Mahal begins from the West Gate (Gate No.1) of Delhi’s well-known and historic Jama Masjid. It’s covered with a couple of eating places promoting Mughlai delicacies.
“These are destitute, laborers, ragpickers, beggars, and helpless human beings, who come here for food,” says Mohammad Shamim, who runs a fabric store here. The classes of human beings expecting food outnumber the types of food the region is famous for.
Ask everybody here approximately their meal, it’ll make your mouth water. “I get to devour scrumptious and VIP meals each day, which even you may now not be getting. Today I had nihari for dinner,” Tej Bahadur tells The Citizen. He is an everyday salary worker at a mechanic’s at the Jama Masjid road, slumbering at the footpaths at night.
“Hotels like Rehmatullah Hotel, Salman Hotel offer food to us.”
Well-regarded eating places within the area include Karims, Al-Jawahar, Cool Point, Aslam Chicken, and the Ghareeb Nawaz Inn, pulling in a massive variety of humans trying to find non-vegetarian food.
These human beings are also awaiting food. The resorts here serve them, whilst a traveler is willing to buy them food coupons. “Per plate meals expenses around. Rs 20 and go up to. Rs 30,” says Mohammad Afzal, owner of the Ghareeb Nawaz lodge.
“My grandfather might feed the ones coming to our resorts in want, following which I have been doing the same. This has been a subculture in my own family, which I want to take forward.”
How many humans turn up in an afternoon? The most has been sixteen people buying meal coupons for them. Coupons worth Rs. One hundred to Rs . 2000 had been bought at my hotel, enough to feed human beings for the complete day.”
“These humans encompass customers who come to dine and buy them food while leaving, and site visitors who come specially to donate the amount for his or her meals in the name of God.”
And “there were instances when the best people offered them coupons, in which case we fed them from our aspect,” Afzal explains. “At times, we even request our traffic to donate food to them.”
Mohammad Farooq, who runs the Salman Hotel, recognized for accurate food at low prices, also makes the effort to feed at least 100 human beings each day. “People start accumulating at my resort from the moment I open at midday. This is going on until 1 a.m.”
“We serve them equal meals made for customers, we don’t discriminate or segregate them for his or her class and condition. I agree that they are god’s messengers whom I have even had the chance to serve,” says Farooq.
It’s no longer simply the holy month of Ramzan that keeps the place humming, normal days are not any less energetic. A mini-honest scene appears to hold within the lanes with a spread of stores promoting clothes, fashionable footwear, smoking kababs, sewaiyaan neatly arranged, cries of ‘sharbate Mohabbat’ or love cordial passing thru the ears as kids loiter inside the lanes, all in all, a pretty happening location for traffic and residents alike.
The lanes being slender, there may be chaos at times. “They quarrel loads, even end up hitting each other, as many of them are drunk maximum of the time. This happens to scare the tourists touring the place,” rues Mohammad Umar, proprietor of the widely recognized sweet store Cool Point.
He adds, “It’s appropriate to assist them, and we additionally offer them food at times, however, they create a lot of issues for our commercial enterprise. Many clients depart after seeing them in combat and misbehave. It’s a loss for our enterprise.”
Sufi Bilal, who runs a neighboring store, half-concurs. “Being drunk, they invent chaos maximum of the time. But when god is there, we can query him. There is one needy gift amongst one hundred, because of whom everyone is fed.”
Bilal provides, “These are individuals who can walk and earn. They spend the earned quantity on drinking alcohol after which come right here free of charge meals. One can’t deny them meals as you couldn’t comprehend the real needy man or woman amongst them.”
Nishant Chaubey, a tourist in Delhi traveling this place for the first time tells The Citizen, “My belly is complete, but looking at them it’s of no real worth. So, giving them a few parts of what I had relieves me a bit.”
“Even if 2,000 people turn up for food in an afternoon, they don’t depart all and sundry hungry. We are all fed,” says Tej Bahadur, who sleeps on the footpath.
