As the clock ticks 1.30 p.m., Shaik Nawab Jhani (64) starts pedalling his way to Autonagar, bringing a sense of relief among a few people. After sweating it out from the morning, people eagerly wait for Jhani, who carries their lunch boxes on his bicycle all the way from Krishna Lanka.
Everyday at 12 noon, Jhani visits houses in Krishna Lanka where women hand over the lunch boxes to him. Pedalling for almost 7 km, he ensures that all his customers get their lunch boxes by 1.30 p.m.
It all started five years ago, when Jhani had to carry the lunch box to his son-in-law at a workshop at Autonagar. A few months later, his grandson, too, joined a workshop.
Quite a few residents of Krishna Lanka work at various workshops in Autonagar, and they also started making similar requests. “Sensing this as an opportunity, I accepted their requests. This is my source of livelihood now, and I earn Rs. 300 per month on one lunch box,” says Jhani, who resides in Krishna Lanka.
He collects as many as 10 lunch boxes from the area everyday, and his job does not confine to supplying them. Jhani waits till his customers finish their lunch and collects the boxes to be returned to the respective houses by 3.30 p.m. But when does he have his lunch? “My wife, too, packs a lunch box, and I carry it along with me. I have it along with my fellow residents,” says Jhani, the dabbawallah of Bezawada.
