A fascinating phenomenon in cityscape

Boutique on wheels :

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Boutique on wheels has become part and parcel of the daily hustle and bustle of the city. Stationed at pavements, within a packed space of less than a square metre, commodities from newspapers, second hand books to cigarettes, short-eats and even king coconuts are being sold in tiny-tin roofed box-model boutiques.

With the fast changing food habits, city-dwellers and many others have changed over from home-cooked meals to fast food and have got accustomed to having their meals at boutiques on wheels which are cheaper than food served in hotels as these tiny boutiques have little over-heads.

Busy office workers, house-wives who take their children to school, hospital staff and visitors of patients constitute the regular customer base for these tin-roofed boutiques.

A row of bottles full of toffees, chocolates and packets of cigarettes encircles the man in the counter-like entrance with a tiny space just enough to put your hand in, to pay for the goodies you bought.

A little above the man is the corrugated tin-roof with rusty patches here and there, and above it hangs a polythene sheet which barely covers the customers from the scorching sun.

Behind the man are few rickety-bunks where customers partake their breakfast in plastic plates. Besides, there lies a heap of king coconut with a shopping bag filled with plastic disposable straws.

In this boutique on wheel somewhere in Mattakkuliya, the little space squeezed between the high wall and the boutique is occupied by the working class customer who used to have their breakfast there.

Typically, their breakfast is made up of bread and dhal or potato curry served in plastic plates. The breakfast here in this boutique is rich with variety of foods ranging from bread, hoppers, string hoppers, to Pittu served with dhal, potatoes or salmon curry.

A one-burner gas cooker is on from morning to the evening, boiling water for tea and the make-shift oven is used to prepare hot-hot meals. The breakfast served at these boutiques vary from short-eats, sandwiches, pastries and bread with curry cooked on the spot. For lunch, pre-cooked lunch packets with labels, egg, fish, meat or chicken, are being sold.

Although the short-eats and other fast foods are kept in glass cupboards in seemingly perfect hygienic conditions, it is doubtful whether the food, particularly the fast food such as short-eats and pastries, are in edible condition with a guarantee of hygiene.

Sarath who runs the one-man business at Mattakkuliya has an average turn over of Rs. 5000 to Rs. 7000 on a daily basis though the business has declined considerably owing to hyper inflation and the shrinking purchasing power of customers.

Earlier his daily turn over used to be around Rs. 10,000. However, customers are, now, a bit reluctant to stay at way sides for a long time due to the constant bomb scare and the uncertain security situation in the city (Though the security situation has improved a lot).

"These days, people have little money and spend sparingly on basic needs. Therefore, I have less business. Earlier, the kade used to fill up with customers and they used to stay a longer time than they do today.

They are little bit scared to stay at waysides because of the uncertain security situation in the city. Office workers and house wives buy meals and a lot of snacks from the kade (boutique).

Clerks and sales executives, and workers come every morning to kade to have their breakfast here. Tea is poured with hot water from the pot on the gas cooker.

During the lunch break, a lot of office workers buy lunch-packets. These are home-cooked lunch that I brought from a family in Mattakkuliya, "said Sarath.

However, Sarath does not get the service of a helper. As he cynically remarked that it would be a loss to him and would be an extra burden to keep a vigil eye on him.

"I can not trust people and leave this Kade in the care of a helper who would vanish with the hard-earned money," said Sarath.

Boutique on wheels provide livelihood for considerable number of people though their contribution to trade is not counted in a big way.

Although one may not be able to pin point the hygienic standards of the foods served at way side boutiques on wheels or even pastry shops, a cautious approach should be adapted when having meals at make-shift boutiques as often the boutique keepers compromise with the standard of the food in return for quick money.

Boutiques on Wheels and the sub-culture associates with it provides an insight into the micro-economy and the changing food habits which has become a necessity in a fast moving society with little time to bother even about meals.

This fascinating phenomenon like in Thailand and Germany can be developed into open-restaurants which serve exquisite foods. On the other hand, the authorities could also set standards to these way side boutiques in order to make them budget-restaurants where food is served at an affordable price, maintaining hygienic standards.

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