Is Bengaluru losing out on the warmth of ‘ghar ka khana’?

A recent survey conducted in 30 cities across India by Cleartrip Local app observed that Bengaluru alone contributes to nearly 70 percent lunch bookings.

By: News Desk |
June 2, 2018 10:28 pm

There is a special kind of joy in opening a tiffin box. And it’s not always about food. It’s also about love. After all, a tiffin box is never just a tiffin box. For generations, loving wives and mothers have carefully tucked fresh parathas, luchis or idlis or momos for sons, husbands and daughters. It’s a bit sexist, but it is an image Indians relate to nonetheless. But, it seems that the appeal of ghar-ka-khana is now fading. At least for the Southern city of Bengaluru. According to a recent survey carried out by Cleartrip app, in the hub of IT professionals, people have taken a liking to eating out rather than carrying a lunch box.

A recent survey conducted in 30 cities across India by Cleartrip Local app observed that Bengaluru alone contributes to nearly 70 percent lunch bookings in India. Metropolitan cities of Mumbai and Delhi filled the following two spots, with 10 percent lunch bookings and less. Good to hear that Mumbaikars are still clutching on to their dabbawalas, a system often popularised, romanticised even, especially after the 2013 Ritesh Batra film The Lunchbox.

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Irfan Khan in The Lunchbox.

As per Rahul Nagpal, a partner at Synergie Hospitality Consultants, the city’s proclivity to lunch bookings is an outcome of “practicality”. With the vast working class population of the city, people hardly find the time to pack a lunch as they struggle with maintaining a work-life balance. Additionally, the cost also plays a role as a wholesome meal can be purchased for a meagre Rs 100-300, Nagpal told The Economic Times.

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He says that Bengalureans’ departure from the dabba is so committed, that most Bengaluru homes might not even have kitchens in their homes one day, reported The Economic Times. “Just an insular slab will be provided. DIY food kits and food delivery apps will flourish further,” he said.