NEW DELHI – Under a rain-slick tarpaulin, a half-dozen elderly women bake roti on a wood-fired griddle — flattening dough, flipping browned bread from dawn until the sun retreats into Delhi’s evening smoke. Anyone who walks in gets served rice and cooked vegetables and, to wash it down, a cumin-flavored yogurt drink.
Across the road, Jagjeet Singh, a burly man with a large fanny pack and a light purple turban, churns a hefty pot of milk coffee from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the evenings, Singh switches to hot milk spiced with turmeric and cloves — good for the cold, good for the day’s exhaustion. He goes through about 260 gallons of milk daily.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.