CHANDIGARH: As dusk settles on a rainy day, families cozy up in their homes, scrolling through food delivery apps to satisfy evening cravings—hot pakoras, crispy samosas, fresh jalebis. With a tap, the order is placed, and soon a knock at the door delivers warmth and comfort. But behind that knock is a delivery partner, navigating flooded streets, potholes, exhaustion, and risk—all for someone else’s moment of joy.
“We have to buy our own rain gear,” says a Swiggy delivery partner, a psychology graduate from Bihar who couldn’t secure employment in his field. “I work 12 to 14 hours daily, earn about ₹1,000—but nearly ₹300 goes into fuel.”
Monsoons make the job especially grueling. “When it rains, I’m forced to slow down on waterlogged, broken roads. One time, I was just a few minutes late and the customer yelled, saying it wasn’t even raining,” he recalls.
Dangerous Roads, No Safety Net
Certain areas are notoriously difficult to navigate. “The roads in Sector 25 Chandigarh, and some parts of Mohali and Zirakpur, are in horrible condition,” says Pradeep Kumar, a Zomato delivery partner.
Accidents, sadly, are part of the job. Kapil Singh remembers a painful ordeal: “Last monsoon, I had an accident, fractured my collarbone, and was bedridden for three months. I got treated at a government hospital, but received no support from the company. My wife and two children survived only because of help from my former employer.”
Women Delivery Partners: Facing Double the Challenge
For female workers, safety is a constant concern—especially during late-night deliveries. “Sometimes, I have to climb to the second or third floor of buildings at night,” says Leela Singh, a delivery partner. “If the men are drunk, I feel really unsafe.”
Beyond safety, even basic human needs are often neglected. A woman who lost her husband just before the pandemic recounts, “Most restaurants won’t let us use their toilets or even ask for water. We depend on public washrooms, which are often filthy. During menstruation, making deliveries in the rain becomes even more painful.”
Every Knock Has a Backstory
The next time a hot meal arrives at your doorstep, remember the journey it took to get there: a journey through traffic, rain, potholes, and sometimes fear. These delivery workers—often unseen and unheard—are the human engines behind our convenience.
Their stories remind us that the ease of modern living is built, quite literally, on someone else’s hard-earned steps.
