THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : With wayside eateries, restaurants and juice parlours, Attakulangara once used to be a foodie hotspot. Now, with most of the shops closed, the area has dulled. But Manacaud native Saji N can be still found working actively at Thekkathil Chicken Corner, his wayside eatery shop near the Women’s Prison and Correctional Home. Saji used to earn around Rs 30,000 daily before the coronavirus outbreak. Now, his business has come down by 50 per cent and he operateswith just three or four workers. “I used to pack parcels back then, but now, I’ve started cooking too. It’s difficult to employ someone just to handle cooking,” says Saji.
The shop was opened 45 days into lockdown. The employees are working at half the salary. “They have been working with me for nearly 10 years. Though the shop was closed, I used to provide them food and accommodation during lockdown. But when the shop was about to open, they understood the crisis and agreed to work for half the salary,” adds Saji.
According to him, keeping parcel service open is the best option these days. “My regular customers place orders through the phone and collect them when the food is ready. Even the customers coming directly to the shop wait patiently for their parcels. If dine-in starts, people won’t adhere to social distancing norms and it will create issues. Also, more staff will be required for cleaning and cooking, which isn’t possible at this time.”
He adds that most establishment owners would prefer to continue with parcel service as it is safer and takes less manpower. “The business has been dull for the past five days. I guess people are in an economic crisis themselves. I need to look after my family and the staff from the profit I make,” he adds.
‘No plans until Onam’
Kamalam restaurant, known in the town as ‘Balante thattukada’ is a favourite food joint for city residents. Having served delicious food for over 30 years at Kaithamukku, the eatery experiences heavy rush after reopening in April amid lockdown. “Seventy five per cent of our business used to come through parcel services and we still have it,” says Balan C, proprietor. After the virus outbreak began, the shop reduced the strength of staff to six from 15. “Nine of them were from other states. Currently, I’m not planning to bring them back,” adds Balan.
Though the restaurant has 100 seats for dine-in, Balan is not planning to start the service. “It’s impractical to note the address and number of each customer, scan their temperature and provide seating by implementing social distancing norms. That would need more staff and resources,” says Balan. He plans to bring back dine-in facility only after Onam. Right now, the parcel service business is doing fairly well. I open my shop by 4pm and by 9pm, the dishes are sold out,” says Balan.