<p>A free lunch service by Cosmopolitan Club in Jayanagar has been drawing people from in and around the area, since it was introduced on April 27. It feeds about 1,000 people daily. </p>.<p><strong>A mixed bag</strong></p>.<p>It’s 12.25 pm on Monday. A lecturer and a government officer, both retired, are waiting on the footpath outside the Club. More people queue up — a working professional with a mask and cap on, two homemakers, three kids carrying a cricket bat, a cyclist who works in an ice cream shop, a young mother with her daughter, and some watchmen.</p>.<p>About 20 minutes later, the crowd is allowed inside the premises. No ID cards are asked. They rush to collect steel plates and tumblers stacked on stands and trays. Then they seat themselves at the six long steel dining tables and benches. Unlike me, many have come here already and know the protocol. </p>.<p>Such as the man seated on my right. “I have a business behind Madhavan Park (about 600 m away). I live further away in JP Nagar. When I don’t feel like going home for lunch, I come here. I have a two-wheeler. I have eaten here four times before. My friend informed me about this,” he tells me as we wait for the service to start.</p>.<p>On my left are three boys, visibly under 10. They have walked down from LIC Colony nearby “for a change of taste”, one says. As others kill time over calls, I chat with the trio. They say they are looking forward to their school reopening next week. When I explain my job to them, they say they want to become “IPS officers” and “catch thieves”. The diners swell in number and the service begins around 1 pm.</p>.<p>First, <span class="italic">payasam</span> is plonked on the plates, followed by <span class="italic">beetroot palya</span>, green chutney, rice, ghee, and <span class="italic">brinjal sambar</span>. In the second course, beetroot<span class="italic"> rasam </span>is served, piping hot. Some people leave before <span class="italic">majjige</span> is wheeled in. Each one rinses their plate with water and re-stacks them on a stand on their way out.</p>.<p>When I step out, I see another queue is taking shape, fronted by an animation artist who “used to bring a lunch box from home earlier”.</p>.<p><strong>Looking back</strong></p>.<p>Come Let’s Have Lunch Together is an initiative of the Cosmopolitan Club Corpus Fund Trust, social arm of the Club. While the Club was established in 1969, the Trust was set up in 2010. The Trust has since sponsored education, weddings, and hospitalisation for the Club staff and others in need.</p>.<p>The free lunch service was mooted by ANK Raju, the president of the Club and one of the founder-trustees and secretary of the Trust. It is supported by Ramalinga Reddy and NH Sharief, who are the chairman and the president of the Trust respectively. </p>.<p>“I have seen poverty in my childhood. I grew up in a small village, Thayappanahalli, in Jayanagar. I went to school without breakfast for 14 years. So it (the idea of feeding others) was on my mind,” shares Raju, who is a builder.</p>.<p>The 65-year-old says the monthly expenditure for free lunch is Rs 15 lakh.It is being covered by the proceeds from the Club earnings that come to the Trust — the Club has 3,000-plus members and a membership fee of Rs 15 lakh. Raju and Reddy are also donating Rs 1 lakh from their pockets.</p>.<p>Ramachandra Bhat, engineer at the Club, says 100 people turned up on the opening day and now they are running packed. “It’s all word of mouth. We never publicised,” he says.</p>.<p><span class="italic">*At Cosmopolitan Club, Jayanagar 3rd Block, 12.30 to 2.30 pm, closed on Sundays and festival holidays</span></p>
<p>A free lunch service by Cosmopolitan Club in Jayanagar has been drawing people from in and around the area, since it was introduced on April 27. It feeds about 1,000 people daily. </p>.<p><strong>A mixed bag</strong></p>.<p>It’s 12.25 pm on Monday. A lecturer and a government officer, both retired, are waiting on the footpath outside the Club. More people queue up — a working professional with a mask and cap on, two homemakers, three kids carrying a cricket bat, a cyclist who works in an ice cream shop, a young mother with her daughter, and some watchmen.</p>.<p>About 20 minutes later, the crowd is allowed inside the premises. No ID cards are asked. They rush to collect steel plates and tumblers stacked on stands and trays. Then they seat themselves at the six long steel dining tables and benches. Unlike me, many have come here already and know the protocol. </p>.<p>Such as the man seated on my right. “I have a business behind Madhavan Park (about 600 m away). I live further away in JP Nagar. When I don’t feel like going home for lunch, I come here. I have a two-wheeler. I have eaten here four times before. My friend informed me about this,” he tells me as we wait for the service to start.</p>.<p>On my left are three boys, visibly under 10. They have walked down from LIC Colony nearby “for a change of taste”, one says. As others kill time over calls, I chat with the trio. They say they are looking forward to their school reopening next week. When I explain my job to them, they say they want to become “IPS officers” and “catch thieves”. The diners swell in number and the service begins around 1 pm.</p>.<p>First, <span class="italic">payasam</span> is plonked on the plates, followed by <span class="italic">beetroot palya</span>, green chutney, rice, ghee, and <span class="italic">brinjal sambar</span>. In the second course, beetroot<span class="italic"> rasam </span>is served, piping hot. Some people leave before <span class="italic">majjige</span> is wheeled in. Each one rinses their plate with water and re-stacks them on a stand on their way out.</p>.<p>When I step out, I see another queue is taking shape, fronted by an animation artist who “used to bring a lunch box from home earlier”.</p>.<p><strong>Looking back</strong></p>.<p>Come Let’s Have Lunch Together is an initiative of the Cosmopolitan Club Corpus Fund Trust, social arm of the Club. While the Club was established in 1969, the Trust was set up in 2010. The Trust has since sponsored education, weddings, and hospitalisation for the Club staff and others in need.</p>.<p>The free lunch service was mooted by ANK Raju, the president of the Club and one of the founder-trustees and secretary of the Trust. It is supported by Ramalinga Reddy and NH Sharief, who are the chairman and the president of the Trust respectively. </p>.<p>“I have seen poverty in my childhood. I grew up in a small village, Thayappanahalli, in Jayanagar. I went to school without breakfast for 14 years. So it (the idea of feeding others) was on my mind,” shares Raju, who is a builder.</p>.<p>The 65-year-old says the monthly expenditure for free lunch is Rs 15 lakh.It is being covered by the proceeds from the Club earnings that come to the Trust — the Club has 3,000-plus members and a membership fee of Rs 15 lakh. Raju and Reddy are also donating Rs 1 lakh from their pockets.</p>.<p>Ramachandra Bhat, engineer at the Club, says 100 people turned up on the opening day and now they are running packed. “It’s all word of mouth. We never publicised,” he says.</p>.<p><span class="italic">*At Cosmopolitan Club, Jayanagar 3rd Block, 12.30 to 2.30 pm, closed on Sundays and festival holidays</span></p>
