BENGALURU: Like any other young working professional, Pratyush Kumar too considers food ordering apps to be his lifeline, relying on them even four to five times a week. “When they get late, I would call them to check how long they will take,” he said. That was until Kumar chose to walk in their shoes for a few hours, after playing delivery boy for one weekend. “I realised how exhausting their job is. Now, whenever I order food, I look at them with more compassion,’’ added the 23-year-old.
Kumar hails from Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and works on weekdays in a software company in South Bengaluru. “One Friday night, I was in my room wondering how to make a boring night more meaningful. That’s when I thought of trying out a part-time delivery job,” said Kumar. He hired a bike with Vogo rental service and then used Rapido to drop bike taxi customers and Swiggy to deliver food.
Over the two days, Kumar delivered food to 15 customers and dropped 10 to their locations. “I took breaks, but realised how exhausting travelling in Bengaluru is. I don’t know how delivery boys manage this,” he said, adding that in two days alone, he travelled over 100 km.
The best part about the stint, said Kumar, was interacting with different people. One of the customers he was dropping was the founder of a startup, which gave Kumar a platform to seek his business ideas. Like Kumar, others too are trying out this option.
Take, for example, a rider Kumar came across while plying by bike taxi one weekday. “He was a photographer who was doing the job to save money and buy an expensive camera. Many take up these jobs to fulfil their dreams,” said Kumar.