Cart Stories| Malay Dosa Wala & Covid19— Inspirational Story | Kolkata | Kartbites App

Everyone deserves a bit of recognition, so I was quite pleased to see that the Street Food Vendor — Malay, has made it onto my list of street food vendors who deserves my salute.

So, the story goes like this. In the wake of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak and the increasing number of coronavirus positive cases in India, many employers have been appealing their employees to take work from home, considering their safety and also in order to slow down or stop the spread of this epidemic.

Though it’s a blessing for many employees as they can use this opportunity to spend some more hours with their family while work continues but when it comes to “FOOD” lazy bachelors like me curse the Covid-19 as it doesn’t leave us many options to get easy and cheap street food. The shops are closed and we can’t go out to eat for the fear of Corona.

It was 7:00 PM on 16th March’20 when I heard my doorbell rang. Curiously, I opened the door to find an approximately 21-year-old boy standing in front of me with a smile.

Arun: Yes, how can I help you?
Boy: Sir, my name is Malay, since the street shops are closed, I am taking my “ Dosha” cart to residences for the people who still want to test the Kolkata, street food delicacies.

Arun: Do you invite everyone like this?

Malay: Yes, sir. I will be in Samarpally for another 1.5 hours and will move towards Ghospara. I know we all are scared of the Coronavirus but I have tried my best to take care of cleanliness and hygiene.

Arun: Thank you for the invite. I will be there in some time.

Hungry and craving for street food, this was like an oasis coming to me in the middle of Sahara. But Covid-19 fear has already rooted its tentacles in my brain. Confused and hungry, I decided to check it out from my house balcony. The moment I came outside, the whole scene over there mesmerized me.

It was a small hand-pulled cart with oven arrangements on it, the two people managing the cart were wearing masks and plastic gloves. The Doshas were being served in disposable compressed leaf plates. The best part was the hand sanitizer tied to the roof stand of the cart.

Satisfied with the hygiene, I finally went out and ordered my favorite masala dosa. The freshly cooked masala dosa with sprinkles of butter on it changed the aroma of our complex. Slowly, other young girls and boys started coming out to the cart, while others were watching the whole scene from their windows and balconies. In Spite of the high demand, he didn’t increase the price of Dosa and maintained the everyday rate i.e Rs 30 per dosa. I had many questions for him but due to the rush, I managed to ask one question. Why did he do this? His one-sentence answer touched my heart — “ have to do it for the sake of hungry stomach”. Maybe he meant to say, to feed his family but looking at the situation over there I felt more like “for the sake of our hungry stomach”.

I personally count Malay among the superheroes and would like to thank him for supporting the hungry masses while maintaining hygiene at this crucial moment of the Covid19 pandemic.

Like Malay, how do we find exotic street food sold out of anonymous hand-pulled food trucks and carts? Well, with your help. All you have to do is upload a food picture on Kartbites app. The location tag in the picture helps us put street food on the map and make it searchable. So come share your street food finds and see them become searchable moments after you post.

Kartbites is a community-powered street food app where any place you eat automatically becomes a place for others to discover. Learn more at http://kartbites.com