Malvika's Ramblings

Waiters in India

We have moved away from restaurants with indifferent waiters who don’t seem interested enough, who are dressed in a random set of clothes.

We have also moved away from waiters who seem like ‘bearers’ in ill-fitting heavy uniforms. The ones with a ponderous air, they don’t seem brisk enough but seem exceptionally polite and perpetually bent forwards.

The waiters or guys behind the counter are now young chaps with a smart “Have a good day Ma’am” and a rapid firing of “Extra cheese?” “Take away or have it here?”. Alert guys who speak to you in English and then look back at the kitchen and holler in vernacular. The guys at McDonald’s, Sbaaro, Nirula’s (not so much) and Pizza Hut.

The new kind of hospitality that India will see is cool waiters who don’t just inform but suggest. Upright guys. Maybe they won’t have uniforms. Not servile. Friendly. Casual. Maybe crack a joke or two, without having learnt them. Chilled at their job. Guys that create an ambience. And women as well. India’s got no waitresses, why?

P.s - I hope the South Indian dhaba waiters keep going strong! - muscular hairy guys who dole out ladlefuls of rice and sambhar from buckets on your banana leaf the moment your food shows signs of diminishing!