Srinagar:Tired of endless wait for the groom’s arrival, Kashmir’s traditional chefs, known as ‘waza’, have set a 10 pm deadline on serving wazwan at weddings. At a conference at a marriage hall in Rajouri Kadal area of the city, wazas discussed the “inhuman conditions” they are made to work under while serving the multi-dish ‘wazwan’ to guests at weddings and other functions. The chefs unanimously decided they will not serve food after 10 pm. Kashmir Waza Association president Ghulam Nabi Waza said his community has suffered in silence for too long. “It takes several hours to prepare the dishes, and usually we work late into the night.

Then we are expected to start serving lunch from around 1 pm till 6 pm, which is followed by dinner, which starts well into the night,” Waza said. And if the chefs are cooking at the bride’s home, they must wait for the groom and his entourage to arrive, which usually happens past midnight, he complained.

“There have been incidents where the maulvi left without solemnising the nikah because the groom did not turn up till 1 am. We are also humans. So we now set the 10 pm deadline,” Waza said. He said going late to wedding feasts has become fashionable and appealed to the people to get rid of this bad habit.

“There are so many people attached with the wazwan, and they too have the right to dignified working hours,” he added. Several chefs complained of maltreatment by their clients. “For example, we are not provided a proper place to sleep. We work long hours and need some time to rest before we prepare ourselves for the next day’s gruelling routine. The hosts should take care of that aspect,” said one of the chefs.