'Please allow me to pass', says robot Ananya as she serves food in Bengal restaurant

Kolkata: Standing next to a national highway that connects the southern part of West Bengal to its north, a restaurant resembling a typical village house serves multi-cuisine platter to its patrons. But, it does that in style.

The food is brought to tables from the kitchen not by a human being but by a robot that can walk and talk.

Negotiating turns on its way, the robot named Ananya gently asks anyone blocking its route, "Please let me go. Please don't stand in the way and allow me to serve."

Painted in white, the robot is about 5 feet tall and has a rectangular 'face' which doubles up as a sensor-driven digital screen to help the kitchen staff transport food ordered by customers sitting at a particular table.

Ananya has wheels but no hands. It also has four shelves placed vertically on which it carries the food. A human staff, waiting at the table, takes out the food from the tray to serve it to the enraptured patron who, more often than not, is found trying to cope with the amazement of a walking-talking machine standing right next to the table.

If met with a hurdle, the robot can turn right or left without toppling over or spilling the food items, to reach its destination.

"We have four robots, all named Ananya (Invincible), to project the resilience and fighting spirit of every woman. Our restaurant is run entirely by women hailing from the neighbourhood. They take care of everything - from housekeeping to cooking, from handling the cash counter to helping the reception desk. So, we thought Ananya would be the most appropriate name," said Subhankar Mondal, manager of Mother's Hut restaurant.

The eatery is located near Krishnanagar in Nadia district, around 120 km from Kolkata, beside National Highway 12 (formerly NH 34).

Fast gaining popularity, diners from the metropolis and from neighbouring towns like Barasat, Barrackpore, Kalyani, Ranaghat and Berhampore are flocking to the eating joint to relish the experience of a robot serving them food, Mondal agreed.

Alankriti Roy, a 10-year-old girl who arrived from Kolkata with her family was thrilled to watch a robot bringing food.

"It is amazing. I have also taken a selfie with the robot," said the class 4 student who originally lives in Muscat.

Another patron, Asif, a medical student from AIIMS Kalyani, said he and his friends have been a regular to the restaurant for the past few years but admits that his excitement with eating out has shot up since the introduction of robots.

The Ananya robots joined the restaurant team around two months ago. The restaurant manager revealed that the name is also a tribute to a former restaurant staff member, Ananya, who was among the first three employees.

"Credit was due to Ananya, who was forced to quit her job on account of her marriage elsewhere, for the current success of our restaurant," said Mondal and informed that the eatery had a modest beginning back in 2013 and grew over the years.

The manager said that the robots were assembled by the IT team of the restaurant in collaboration with a desi software major but was unwilling to name the company.

Mondal revealed that there are plans to introduce more robots within a year, making services at the restaurant – from cooking to putting the items on platter and serving to customers – fully automated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

"This will lessen the work pressure on our women staff allowing them to make important value addition to service. Once this kitchen automation happens in a year's time, you can label us the only AI-driven, AI-themed restaurant in the country's eastern region," the restaurant's co-owner, Anath Bandhu Garai, said.

Asif, the medical student, though, had an alternative take on the matter.

"From robots today, there could be humanoids in the future. But the emotion and personal touch in such services cannot be replaced by mechanised devices," he said.