When I went to rejoin the government hostel of IIT Delhi after the lockdown and subsequent online semester, I found out the bizarre ways the mess management of the hostel used to dispose of tons of fresh food.
There had been many NSS (National Social Services) drives related to disposing of remaining food before, for all three meal timings, and despite the great lengths of planning and student participation, they were never successful and eventually ceased. The real reason behind it was (and still is)—the doers get bored after the doing eventually.
When the messes opened after the lockdown, there were systems placed for cooking and distribution to other hostels. Initially, food used to come prepared, approximately for a hundred students. After the mess timings, almost half of it was being drained into the waste sewer. When asked, one of the staff officials talked to the mess supervisor. He said it was meant to be this way, as they were not interested enough to do this additional task in such dark times. Hence, I decided to do something on my own.
According to the rules, a student was supposed to take food in the desired amount and also had the option to save food for later or to keep it in the common small fridge. Then I started implementing an initiative gradually, day by day. Every day, starting from the morning meal, I went on going to the mess to eat at the end, till the very last minute on the schedule. Eating ever so slowly, I befriended the staff of the kitchen. Then, when the end time hit, I used to enter the kitchen and pack the food for later. But it was a rather significant amount, almost all of the remainder, which I stored in the fridge. While doing so, I noticed the staff of various hostel departments taking some of the remaining food for their family and occasionally trying to hide it. Instead, I promoted their personal agenda and even offered my share stored in the fridge, if needed in case of shortage, stating the simple fact: if it’s drained, it’s gone. At that time only, I revealed to them that I donate most of my stored food (after eating part of it during the night hours) to the slums surrounding the campus. I was open from the beginning and kind, gentle, and straightforward, because technically I was the only authority for that material possession, and what I took outside was defined as waste. In weeks of time, it was established that the remaining food would belong to me every day, and that was without any official permission because I was solely acting on my own. Since it was made known to staff and local authorities, and because I was honest in the process, most of them supported me in their own way. I used disposable bags of different sizes from my savings, which were not expensive, AL foil from the mess staff, and fresh bin bags from the cleaning staff for the ultimate storage of the filled bags. At the time of curfew in the hostel, I used local delivery apps to deliver the packages at nominal rates, which was hard in the beginning but gradually sustained. The whole operation lasted until I left the college in July.
another story from me ;)-
When I went to rejoin the government hostel of IIT Delhi after the lockdown and subsequent online semester, I found out the bizarre ways the mess management of the hostel used to dispose of tons of fresh food.
There had been many NSS (National Social Services) drives related to disposing of remaining food before, for all three meal timings, and despite the great lengths of planning and student participation, they were never successful and eventually ceased. The real reason behind it was (and still is)—the doers get bored after the doing eventually.
When the messes opened after the lockdown, there were systems placed for cooking and distribution to other hostels. Initially, food used to come prepared, approximately for a hundred students. After the mess timings, almost half of it was being drained into the waste sewer. When asked, one of the staff officials talked to the mess supervisor. He said it was meant to be this way, as they were not interested enough to do this additional task in such dark times. Hence, I decided to do something on my own.
According to the rules, a student was supposed to take food in the desired amount and also had the option to save food for later or to keep it in the common small fridge. Then I started implementing an initiative gradually, day by day. Every day, starting from the morning meal, I went on going to the mess to eat at the end, till the very last minute on the schedule. Eating ever so slowly, I befriended the staff of the kitchen. Then, when the end time hit, I used to enter the kitchen and pack the food for later. But it was a rather significant amount, almost all of the remainder, which I stored in the fridge. While doing so, I noticed the staff of various hostel departments taking some of the remaining food for their family and occasionally trying to hide it. Instead, I promoted their personal agenda and even offered my share stored in the fridge, if needed in case of shortage, stating the simple fact: if it’s drained, it’s gone. At that time only, I revealed to them that I donate most of my stored food (after eating part of it during the night hours) to the slums surrounding the campus. I was open from the beginning and kind, gentle, and straightforward, because technically I was the only authority for that material possession, and what I took outside was defined as waste. In weeks of time, it was established that the remaining food would belong to me every day, and that was without any official permission because I was solely acting on my own. Since it was made known to staff and local authorities, and because I was honest in the process, most of them supported me in their own way. I used disposable bags of different sizes from my savings, which were not expensive, AL foil from the mess staff, and fresh bin bags from the cleaning staff for the ultimate storage of the filled bags. At the time of curfew in the hostel, I used local delivery apps to deliver the packages at nominal rates, which was hard in the beginning but gradually sustained. The whole operation lasted until I left the college in July.