Sharmistha Gooptu in Leeds
“Half of Burley is here, in Headingley…for the (cricket) festival…I mean the Test match,” said Upama Nandy with a laugh. She is an Indian student working part-time in hospitality at this hallowed cricket ground.
“I risked everything when I left my job and came to this country.” That was Prajnadip Pal, another Indian student, and part-time worker, who is also part of the hospitality team at Headingley.
The lunch had just opened at the media centre and some of us were among the first to take our plates at the buffet. The menu had rice, fries, beef meatballs and vegetarian meatballs. I asked for the vegetarian one and returned for more sauce. “It’s quite dry,” I told one of the catering team. “Could I have a bit more please.” And in Bangla, the lady told a colleague: “Shukna lagche, gravy de,” like anybody would in my own home.
We spoke a bit between their lunch time businesses and then connected on the phone after they had gotten off duty.
Upama, from Kestopur, was a practising advocate in Kolkata. Her friend and colleague Prajnadip, an advertising professional, is also from Kolkata. Both took the England plunge, gave up their practice and job and arrived in the UK on student visas to pursue further degrees. Their visas do not allow them to work more than 20 hours a week.
But according to Upama, even without the student limit on work hours, there is an inherent bias against hiring Indians for permanent or even long-term part-time work among the biggest brands or retailers. “Big brands don’t like people like us to be seen at the front end, so we have to depend on short-term gigs to support ourselves, like this one at Headingley.”
The students live mostly in the area of Burley, in rented accommodations. The area was originally a village developed for housing workers during the Industrial Revolution. Burley is about a 15-minute drive from Headingley, which makes it particularly attractive as a gig option. Other times, they have to travel further, to places like Halifax, for other such dos.
On Day 2 of the Test, Upama and Prajnadip were on duty at the buffet service in the Media Centre. Tomorrow, they might be elsewhere in the stadium. “Yesterday I was on duty at the bar in the Executive Suite. Tomorrow, I might be in the Presidential Room or any of the other bar, or even in the catering,” says Upama.
For Prajnadip, working at the catering in the Media Centre offers the best aerial view from the balcony, of the whole ground!
Upon my queries regarding the lack of a proper menu catering to Indian preference both days of the match, one of them confided to a certain ‘tone deafness’ when it comes to cultural awareness. That, too, when Indians are one of the biggest and most influential communities in the country, when the Indian population in Leeds has grown manifold over the last few years.
“There was no awareness that for Indians meat doesn’t automatically stand for beef. We served beef meatballs today and there was a lot more of those made than the vegetarian option. And most of the Indian journalists made their way to the vegetarian one, that was before one of the supervisors came and briefed us.”
It seems that culturally, we still need to go much beyond chicken tikka masala and ‘curry’. Surely, Edgbaston and Lord’s will be much better!