Food stalls near Delhi University: Closed, not closed, somewhere in-between

But whenever a student walks by — looking for parathas, tea or a cigarette — dabbas full of these items appear from under the table. Behind the mostly-closed shutters, stoves are at work, brewing tea or cooking up something hot for the students waiting outside.

In an area full of civil service aspirants and DU students — and with North campus and several colleges next door — stalls selling cheap food thrive.

At 11.45 pm, the owner of a small paratha stall near the Maurice Nagar police station starts cleaning the tables and putting things away. It is beyond the 11.30 pm deadline allowed by their “permits”, and almost time for the night patrol by police officials.

But when he says, “it’s time for us to close,” a DU student, enjoying a smoke at his shop, waves away the claim.

“They behave like they close for the day when reporters or police come by, but several shops on this road stay open all night. Where else will we get food, chai or cigarettes at night,” he says.

For a marginal additional cost, the ‘parathawallas’ also offer delivery services to nearby hostels.

At a somewhat dark street corner, a grey-haired man sits with a large casserole full of parathas. But “uncleji”, as he is called, insists, “We close everything at night”. An hour later, he is busy handing out parcels of parathas to customers, some of them policemen on night shift. An occasional car drives through the lane, looking for a late night meal.

“The entire lane is awake all night. Students from undergraduate colleges and hostels come here… even girls from nearby hostels come for a quick bite,” says one of the employees at a stall.

When he is requested for a cuppa chai, he gets a kettle full of piping hot cardamom tea from his kitchen, a tiny room behind, and a few steps under, his stall.

“Here, we can get seven parathas for Rs 100, cigarettes and cold drinks. Who has the money to order from restaurants,” says a student.

A few minutes past midnight, two young men come to a stall and ask for freshly-made parathas, turning down the owner’s offer of reheating parathas made a couple of hours ago. But the boys plead with her, telling her how hungry they are, and manage to convince “bhabiji” to make the parathas after all.

“I was thinking about going to sleep but we will make more parathas now,” she says.