Rajasthan: Fast Food Cooks up a New Trend in Villages of Hanumangarh

Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: “When everything is changing, how can our food survive? The era of grandmothers is over in our village. Even in my house, Chinese food, Maggi, burgers and other such items are commonly eaten. Fast food has become mandatory when guests come home as it is readily available,” says Manju Gupta (53) of Dabli Rathan, on the increasing dependence on fast food in the village.

A teacher at the government school in the village, Gupta says that earlier there was no option of fast food. So when guests came, she used to prepare traditional pulses, vegetables, sweet dishes etc. Also, earlier the arrival of guests was as per a predetermined schedule. Now, it is not known when the guests will come home. “This is why we order fast food. Moreover, I do not have to spend time in the kitchen when the guests come in. Instead, I can chat freely with them,” she adds.

Before coming to his medical store, pharmacist Deepak Midha (34) usually eats his breakfast of parathas at home. But when he has to come early, he orders breakfast from the market. “All types of fast food, including noodles and burgers, are available in the village. Even in the evening, when I feel hungry, I order something to eat from a fast food stall. Who would go home for such a small thing? The family members find all this comfortable.”  

Fast food has become the choice of most of the people in Dabli Rathan, located on Hanumangarh-Bikaner Road and 14 km from Hanumangarh district headquarters. Fast food vendor Sagar Majoka (28) says the business is proving to be profitable. “I sell chow mein, burgers, pav bhaji, noodles, Maggi etc. The average daily income is Rs 1,000. About 70 to 80 customers come every day. I started this work a year ago, due to which my family's livelihood is improving,” he says.

There are about two dozen fast food shops and street vendors in various streets and markets of the village.

Villager Ashok Gaba (71) says that 10 to 12 years ago, Jugun Agarwal opened a fast food shop in the village. Later, he launched catering work, where he arranges both traditional and fast food. That apart, Ashok Kumar from Bihar set up a fast food stall 10 years ago. When his business took off, many others from his village started doing this work. A variety of food, including patties, dahi vada, momos, chow mein, pizza, spring roll, burger, cutlet, hotdog, Maggi, vada pav, pastry and manchurian are available.

“The people of the village have started eating a lot of fast food. I also like it very much,” says Sonu Khan (30), a property dealer.

According to Rajendra Gumber (71), millet, barley, maize and gram were the main diet of the villagers once upon a time. Mostly millet rotis were eaten, or barley, maize and gram were ground together to make rotis. There was no wheat production then.

Rajendra Gumber from Dabli Rathan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters).

“After the arrival of canals in 1954, wheat cultivation started and gradually people began to eat wheat rotis. Till a decade ago, only some traditional sweets, samosa and kachori were available in the village,” he details. “Now, it is as if children and youth cannot survive without fast food,” he rues.

Gaba notes that his nine-year-old granddaughter wants only fast food. “We make Maggi at home. Chow mein, burger and pizza are ordered from the market. When we were young, milk and porridge used to be the main food in the morning. We did not drink tea at all. When I ask my granddaughter to eat pulses and porridge, she refuses.”

Dakhan Devi (70) recalls how they used to add desi ghee to jaggery and eat roti with it. “Kheer and halwa were aplenty. Instead of drinking juice, we used to chew on sugarcane, which made our teeth strong. In summer, we drank lots of buttermilk. We dished out rabri and jaggery and ate roasted gram and peanuts. The new generation has no interest in these things.”

Dabli Rathan is counted among the largest villages of Hanumangarh district. Here, fast food is served at all functions, including weddings, anniversaries and birthday parties. Vijay Kumar Garg (45), who works in the catering field in the village, says that only two vegetables, rice, raita, plain roti, pakodas and something sweet were served at the weddings about 12 years ago. But since then, mostly fast food is in demand.

“This has not increased expenses because fast food stalls are cheaper than traditional food. This benefits the host, and people also want to eat fast food. Nowadays, people set up 10 to 25 stalls with most of them selling noodles, burgers, chow mein, paneer tikka, sambar dosa, pav bhaji, golgappa, Maggi, manchurian etc. If there are 1,000 people at an event, 500 of them want to fill their stomachs with fast food. Initially, I had to bring cooks from the neighboring towns of Pilibanga and Hanumangarh. Later, the local people became proficient in it,” Garg adds.

Recalling his wedding feast, Gaba says that when he got married in the 80s, the villagers were served roti-dal, one vegetable, salad and dal halwa. “In contrast, I had to set up 40 stalls of different types of food for my son’s wedding. Half of them were fast food items… I do not like fast food, but they are served at parties as most of the people like these items. Fast food is now a part of the food culture everywhere.”

Dr MP Singh Shekhawat (81) settled in the village after serving as a medical in-charge in the village government hospital for 20 years. He tells 101Reporters that he has been living in the village for 50 years. "Earlier, the people here used to eat only coarse grains. Now, the thali [food plate] and the dress sense of villagers have both changed. On one hand, people in big cities are liking the desi village food, whereas our village people are after fast and Chinese food.”

Dr. MP Singh Shekhawat from Dabli Rathan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters) .

Dr Shekhawat warns that fast food is affecting people's health. “When people gave up coarse grains, they began to fall ill. Wheat, which replaced millets, has increased some health problems, but fast food is causing the most harm,” he notes.

“Hardly 15 to 20% of the people who earlier consulted me were suffering from high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, acidity, and stomach and liver diseases. Now, 80% of the people are falling prey to these diseases. Although people's earlier relatively sedentary lifestyle and genetic factors are responsible for this, fast food is also a reason,” adds Dr Shekhawat.

Anganwadi worker Poonam Sharma (40) says the interest in consuming fast food has increased among women, but it is also causing stomach related problems. “I often talk to women about this.”

Dr Madhulika Parmar, a former member of the Board of Studies (Home Science) of Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner, and Principal of Government College, Sadulshahar, says that one of the reasons for the increasing popularity of fast food in villages is that women have found it convenient as they do not have to slog in the kitchen.

Dr Santosh Rajpurohit, Principal, Rajasthan College for Higher Education, Hanumangarh, and former president of Rajasthan Economic Association, says that the villagers spend more money on fast food and cold drinks, whereas a few years ago, they used to focus more on purchasing grains and pulses. The sale of packaged food items has also increased in villages.

Citing a study by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, he says that while this change in villages is a reflection of the changes coming in the society, it is also a sign of villagers getting better work and earning more. Referring to the villages in Hanumangarh district, Rajpurohit says that people with high income spend less on food and beverages, but low income labourers or self-employed people spend 90% of their earnings on food and beverages. "I also spend more on these items for my children," he admits.

Balwant Singh (45), a construction worker, earns Rs 400 daily. “Although it is very less, with this much money, the household's food expenses are easily covered. There are no savings. When I feel hungry, I eat samosa, kachori etc. I buy them for my children as well.”

Construction mechanic Hanuman Kumar (26) gets a daily wage of Rs 600 when he works in the village and Rs 800 when he works in the city. This covers the family's expenses well. As to whether eating in the market increases the expenses, Kumar says that the expenses are not that much. ‘We can eat something for Rs 25 too,” he says.

(Amarpal Singh Verma is a Rajasthan-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)