WORK CAN WAIT...YOU TRIED THE LOBSTER?

       For India's hungry hordes of office workers, the old-fashioned work canteen is past its sell-by date. In the brave new world of IT and business outsourcing companies, sophisticated cafeterias now rule.
       Salary slaves are set free at lunchtime with live kitchens, multi-cuisine offerings, brightly themed colour schemes with furniture and fixturs to match, vending machines, music system, TVs and the all-machines, music system, TVs and the all-important Internet connectivity.
       "The availability of cafeterias and the upgrade fo services is like moving from Web 1.0 to 2.0," says Romit Dasgupta, director of Globsyn Business School. He adds that like many upgrades on the Net, it's also community driven.
       Over at Google's India headquarters the story is the same. Here, the philosophy is "no employee pays for food" and the food served is often raved about, reviewed and compared to reputed restaurants.
       According to Dasgupta, "These are basic innovations for providing psycholgical comfort to the talent pool. In a scenario where software experts anre spending long hours at their computers, it is a bbout providing them with the playround that allows themto come back and write those priceless codes."
       And a superior cafe cn play a role in attracting that talent to a company in the first place. Though an IT professional's criteria for a preferred company to work for will include good projects, pay structure, interpersonal relationships and career opportunities, infrastructure facilities like cafeteries definitely appear on the list.
       According to IBM's Rajeev Mathur, regional manager of site operations for South Asia, cafeterias "act as a retention policy and enable the organisation to keep employee moral and motivation igh".
       The glass-domed cafeteria on IT giant Wipro's sprawling Kolkata complex is designed to satisfy everythingk from short snacking breaks to serious gastronomic urges. Brands like Baskin Robbins, Barista, Expresso and Java Green offer 24-hour service.
       And with the vast choice comes subsidised prices. A peek into the IBM cafeteria at lunchtime reveals software workaholics catching up on a spread consisting of South Indian thalis, snacks of samosas and bhajis, soups, grilled sandwiches, pasta, pizza and noodles.
       If the deliciously cold air-conditioning is not enough, you can beat the sweltering summer heat or the sultry monsoon by heading for the ice-cream parlour or the juice bars.
       The counters at the cafeteria attract queues for feshly prepared food, with employees helping themselves to across-the-counter breakfast, lunch, evening snacks, dinner. Alternatively, they can order the regular berad and breakfast or items prepared at the onsite kitchen such as pizzas, dosas and meals of Indian, Chinese or fusion food, vegtarian or non vegetarian.
       But, as Dasgupta notes, the choice and comfort has a higher objective than satis fying the appetities of workers: "In the case of IT giants like IBM and Wipro where there is a disconnect between various rungs, add-ons like cafeterias are the intermediaries that help keep the show ticking."