Chennai’s dabbawalis
CHENNAI: Thirty-seven-year-old Ameena was stunned when her husband met with an accident and broke his legs. He was the family’s bread winner. Ameena panicked. How would she feed the family that included two daughters? That’s when Kathir came to her rescue.
Today, six months later, earning a profit of Rs 300 a day, she has married off a daughter, and knows the strategy to multiply profits, thanks to Project ECO Kitchen.
Project ECO (Enhancing Community Opportunities) Kitchen is a non-profit social entrepreneurship programme. An initiative of the YR Gaitonde Medical, Educational and Research Foundation, it was started last year by Dr Suniti Solomon, managing trustee of the foundation. The project has three initiatives, Kathir — Delightfully Vegetarian!, Kathir Dhan and Out of the Box.
One beneficiary of Kathir is Ameena. “I earn a profit of Rs 200 to Rs 300 every day. I buy 25 to 30 meals at Rs 18 per meal from ECO Kitchen and sell at Rs 25 per meal. Construction workers, bus drivers and even couples come to my eatery,” she says.
“I have regular customers who prefer my eatery for the delicious and hygienic food we serve. The menu reads well — rice, sambar, poriyal, kootu, rasam and butter milk,” says Nagomi, another Kathir beneficiary. “It’s rare to see a street-side stall serving authentic vegetarian fare. That may be the reason I get more customers,” she adds. Sethulakshmi says that Kathir would soon add breakfast too. She says, “We’re getting the opinions of our vendors and we hope to include it in a short span.” ECO Kitchen takes care of everything but it’s not that easy a ride for the vendors. The police, for one, can add a bitter taste. “The vendors are answerable to the police, as they sell on the road. We hope to provide the vendors with a safe location soon. Also, we hope to increase the number of vendors to 3,000,” says Suniti.