Summary

The aroma that emitted from Hassan Haji’s grandfather’s restaurant was one of Hassan's first memories. Having been driven from the fields by the blight in the 1930s, his grandfather had arrived on a steam engine in Bombay from Gujarat in 1934. The family members were poor Muslim farmers. Hassan's grandfather – who was called Bapaji – rode on top of the steam engine for three days to reach Bombay. When he arrived, he was starving. His hunger probably sparked his idea of opening a restaurant. But, for years after he first arrived, he worked as a delivery boy and delivered lunch boxes to workers. He often had to ride the crowded trains with his deliveries. The trains were so crowded that some men hung from the windows and doors.

By age twenty-three, Bapaji was delivering a thousand lunch boxes each day. He had fourteen runners...