As students return to DU, local eateries, food stalls buzz with activity

New Delhi: The canteens and roadside eateries were abuzz with activity as physical classes of DU colleges resumed after two-year hiatus on Thursday, bringing cheers to the owners as well as the students many of whom could bond with their friends over a cuppa for the very first time.

As students queued up outside stalls to savour momos, tea, banta, sweet corn and other snacks, business returned to these eateries that had been left cash-strapped owing to the closure of the university due to the Covid pandemic.

Students could be seen enjoying steaming hot momos at a famous vendor outside the Vishwavidyalaya metro station.

Rajkumar, the momos vendor there, said he had not expected so many students to turn up. "The business has been impacted for the last two years. We have suffered major losses. There was no business. But now, the students are coming back.

"Today is a very busy day. I think now the business will be fine. Students are our main customers. With them returning, the business will hopefully bloom," he said.

The Sudama tea stall near Ramjas College was also brimming with activity as excited students were discussing their first day at college over a cuppa.

"I was told by my seniors that I must try tea from Sudhama tea stall. So on the first day itself, I decided to have tea here. It is actually good," said Kritika Sharma, a second-year student at the Ramjas College.

Sudama had a busy day since morning as well as he constantly stirred boiling tea and milk in two separate vessels. At the same time, he was also pouring tea in earthen cups. Similarly, Tom Uncle Maggie Point at Hudson Lane had students thronging to the eatery which offers different versions of the two-minute noodles. "Though it is too early to say anything about the sales, people are coming but it will take time to reach pre-Covid situation," said the owner.