Bhubaneswar: Despite the rise in LPG prices, a modest roadside food cart at Kalpana Square here is offering affordable, filling food for those who need it most, like he has been doing for years. Run by Rabindra Sahoo, fondly called Rabi Bhai, the cart serves them a bowl full of ‘pakhala’ (fermented rice), a soul food of Odias, with vegetable sides at just Rs 25. Most importantly, even at that price, the food is unlimited. For many struggling to make ends meet, this simple meal offers both nourishment and comfort.“On most days, this is all we can manage,” said Prabhat Mohanty, a construction worker, adding that the meal not only fills the stomach but also helps them cope with the scorching heat.Rabi’s journey began in 2009 when he started the cart with basic tiffin items like idli, upma, bara, and aloo chop. Over time, he introduced ‘pakhala’, keeping in mind the needs of daily labourers.“In Odisha’s villages, ‘pakhala’ is still the preferred breakfast for farmers because it keeps you full throughout the day and cools the body during summers. When I started making some money from my food cart, I decided to serve ‘pakhala’ and vegetables to the poor people and kept the price low so that no one goes hungry,” he said.No matter what the season is, Rabi opens his cart every day. From 5 am till about 9 am, his cart becomes the lifeline for the urban poor. Large bowls of ‘pakhala’ are accompanied by ‘aloo’ or ‘baigana bharta’, mixed fried vegetables, lemon slices, green chillies, salt and a glass of ‘torani’ (fermented rice water).“The rice used in ‘pakhala’ is grown by my family on our own ancestral land at Kaipadar village in Khurda district. We grow around 70 to 80 gunny bags of rice in both rabi and kharif seasons. I use my share to cook ‘pakhala’ for people. So, I do not spend on rice,” he said.The little profit that he makes is from the basic tiffin items that he sells. Serving nearly 100 people daily, many of them regulars, who have been coming here for years. Every year on Jan 1, he goes a step further, offering ‘pakhala’ and tiffin to everyone who comes to his cart.
