Eking out a living one roti at a time
Niharika rolls out yet another roti. See the small griddle to her right
It’s sobering to think how hard some people work to make a living.
About four years ago, Niharika and Ramesh moved north from Mumbai to open a small restaurant on the outskirts of Rajkot in Gujarat.
When we stopped for lunch at their place, called Punchnath Chinese and Punjabi Dhaba (dhaba means eatery and is sometimes spelt dhoba), I learned how hard it can be just to pay the rent.
Niharika, who sat cross-legged and serenely on the floor rolling out and cooking rotis in seconds, explained that their monthly rent was 25,000 rupees (or about A$500). Some months they have to dip into their savings to cover the cost.
Ramesh checks on the curries
While Niharika was making rotis (anywhere from 300 to 400 a day), her husband, Ramesh was whizzing around serving up the main dishes she made earlier in the day.
We were served a thali (mixed plate) of chickpea curry, potato and pea curry, a dal and a fourth dish I can’t remember. Ramesh kept topping up our plates and bringing as many rotis as we could eat. I hadn’t realised that rotis come with a thali, and are an all-you-can-eat item. No wonder she makes so many every day.
Niharika was working off a five-kilo batch of dough, pulling off bits no bigger than a cherry then rolling them out to almost six inches in diameter.
By the way, we stopped at their place by chance. We’d been looking for a place to get the van’s wheels aligned, and their little eatery is almost next door. So if you’re ever on the road out of Rajkot to Porbandar, look out for the big Bridgestone sign on the left. Niharika and Ramesh’s place is just before it.
The all-you-can-eat thali was only 70 rupees per person (or A$1.40). You have to sell a lot of thalis to cover the rent. Luckily two more tables of customers arrived just before we left. And on the way out, we bought nine ice creams at 25 rupees each (50 cents).
Oh, and the wheel alignment was done in less than 30 minutes and cost a mere 250 rupees (or A$5).
P.S. I’ve never made rotis, but I plan to try when I get home. I have reason to be confident because I had great success making Arabic bread.
Where to next? 
Very impressive blog ..thanks for friendship ..
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Thanks so much for being so supportive of my blog. I love the quotes on yours.
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Nice photo of Niharika making Roti’s and she makes about 300-400 each day, which means they do get a fair amount of customers each day. However, paying 25,000 rubees ($401 US/A512) ) for monthly rental for an outdoor space does seem quite a lot.
I would like to order two Roti’s with chicken curry, dal and rice. And please send it to me using an Amazon drone (Aside- they are doing test runs in India, I believe).
SyS.
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Oh gosh Sy, I wish I could deliver! But you might find it hard to get a chicken curry in Gujarat. The state is mostly vegetarian. 🙂
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I really like your posts about the wild life and I love your posts about the people. Keep your wheels aligned so we all can see and learn more!
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Thanks so much. I love learning about the people and seeing the wildlife. Feeling very blessed.
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Wow. That is a lot of hard work. To roll that roti out from such a small ball of dough. Was it see thru? 😉
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Not quite see thru, but very thin indeed. And delicious.
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What would be a customary tip or do they tip after meals and other services? Keep those posts coming Peggy. The weather here has been dismal and reading your blog helps my outlook!
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Tips aren’t huge here—maybe the equivalent of 50 cents for the lunch. At the end of a game drive, every person chips in about A$1 to give to the guide and driver—so A$6 for about three hours of work by two people.
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How is the language barrier handled….. When I was in India, the younger students spoke English and a few adults as well. And if not, I could always point to say a food item/plate to indicate I would like to try that one. Or key words like the name of a known tourist site…. Or perhaps some hand gestures like pointing to your feet (two fingers walking motion), pointing to a watch (do you still were your favorite one?)… Or closed RIGHT hand and up to your mouth for eating… etc, etc.
SyS.
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Lots of people in India speak some English, but that’s not always the case in small villages. Pointing, sign language and hand waving go a long way. But we’re lucky to have Deepti and Anand who are native Hindi speakers.
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That is one very good reason to eat at small places – because your custom makes a real difference.
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You are so right. I love supporting the small local places.
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What a great experience!
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I love eating in these small places where our custom makes a real difference to their standard of living.
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Comparatively speaking the wheel alignment was a steal! A$5? It’d be an easy US$50+++!
Yes, you are most correct about how hard so many work to make a living. It has always humbled me and made me very thankful for my great work ethic which has brought me a thankful life.
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Not sure what a wheel alignment would cost in Australia. Probably close to $100.
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I appreciate you making the effort to connect with locals on your travels.
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I’d be cross with myself if I didn’t make the effort to get to know people and to support local businesses. Sometimes people are shy or language is a barrier, but on the whole connecting is almost always possible. I feel the richer for it.
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Dear Sir/Madam,
We request permission to use an image from your website for academic research and publication, and full credit will be duly acknowledged. Kindly inform us of any required terms.
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Which image do you want to use and how do you plan to use/publish it?
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The image I am referring to is the one included in the same article, titled “Niharika rolls out yet another roti. See the small griddle to her right” We plan to use this image strictly for academic research and for inclusion in an academic research publication related to our study. The image will appear only as part of the research documentation, and full credit and acknowledgement will be provided as required.
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Thank you. You are most welcome to use the image. The acknowledgement can be my name—Peggy Bright—and the name of this blog. If you publish online, please include a link to the blog.
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Dear Peggy Bright,
Thank you very much for granting us permission to use the image. We truly appreciate your support. We will acknowledge your name—Peggy Bright—and your blog in our academic work, and if published online, we will include a link to your blog as requested.
Thank you once again for your kindness and cooperation.
Warm regards,
SPIRE Lab
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
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Good luck with your study, research and academic work. I appreciate you asking for permission to use the image.
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