There was a time when restaurants in undivided South Kanara
District in general, and Mangaluru in particular used to cook and serve food
just like home made. I have not only heard stories from my late father about
how the snacks tasted in Mangalurian restaurants during his hey days, but I
also remember my own times in the Sixties and the Seventies when many
restaurants made lovely snacks and maintained quality and quantity at very
reasonable prices. The people who founded those restaurants cared more for the
satisfaction of those who patronized them, and also earned goodwill by word of
mouth and reputation beyond the seven seas! Such restaurants are very few today,
and Indra Bhavan is one.
When Late Raghurama Udupa hailing from Kinnigoli took over Indra Bhavan from
one Babu Shetty in 1952, he not only cared for good food and good service, but
he also was compassionate about poor students who came there for mid day meal.
I remember my classmate from high school to PUC, a brilliant student Gopalakrishna
Bhat hailing from a very poor Brahmin family who came walking all the way from
Kulur to St Aloysius College to study, and he used to carry monthly lunch
coupons issued by Indra Bhavan on concessional rates those days. He also used
to tell me that plated meals at Indra Bhavan were homely, just like his mother
cooked! Unfortunately Gopalakrishna Bhat is no more, but the reputation Indra
Bhavan has earned by caring for such poor students, is copious. Today they
don’t serve plated meals but they serve snacks with same standards and
reasonable pricing.
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| Late Raghurama Udupa - Founder |
Then when I started to frequent restaurants
during my college days, some of my friends recommended Goli Baje and Buns at
Indra Bhavan, acclaiming them as the best in Mangaluru. I was living in north
Mangaluru those days and it was a bit out of the way for me to visit Indra
Bhavan. Then couple of my friends said “Vishwa Bhavan in Hampankatta is also managed
by the owners of Indra Bhavan. You can get the same stuff there!” So I started
to visit Vishwa Bhavan regularly and I still recall those days when I used to
relish idli, vada, ambade, dosa, podi, golibaje, buns, chattambade, sajjige,
avalakki, sheera and such snacks there at very reasonable prices. When I moved
my home to Attavar in 1990, I started visiting Indra Bhavan and also started to
get snacks packed for home. Their special dosas were also very crisp and tasty.
Few years ago, Vishwa Bhavan moved from its original premises to opposite side
in a new complex but they continued to serve the same awesome snacks.
Navanitha B Shetty, a food blogger basically from Mangaluru, now based in Pune
fondly remembers Late Raghurama Udupa and says, “When my grandfather Late
Subbayya Naik who owned Hotel Woodside and Vishwa Bhavan wanted someone to run
the veg restaurants in Woodside and Vishwa Bhavan, he could not find anyone
better than Late Raghurama Udupa. Udupa was very hard working, honest and
efficient. Woodside veg section was managed by the Udupas for a few decades
before someone else took over, and Vishwa Bhavan restaurant, until it was
shifted. Now the Udupas own Vishwa Bhavan restaurant in its new premises”.
Today continuing the tradition of Late Raghurama Udupa in hospitality, his son Prakash
Udupa, Prakash’s wife Bhagyalakshmi Udupa and his two sons Vishnu Prasad Udupa
and Vishwajith Udupa manage Indra Bhavan and Vishwa Bhavan. Prakash’s mother
Sarojini Udupa is the guiding force. Indra Bhavan has become an iconic
restaurant in Mangaluru, and a black and white picture of this restaurant
dating back to the early days of its functioning in Balmatta Circle, is viral on the
internet. I can see that picture being shared by hundreds of my friends on
social networking sites and also via email. Indra Bhavan to Mangaluru is as
important as other traditional south Indian style restaurants. Sadly, some have
closed shutters due to labour problem, lethargy of the younger generation to
continue family business or forced eviction, leading to increasing operational costs.
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| Old Pic courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com/ |
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| Ruchir Agarwal trying his hand at making Rava Dosa |
Yet, the Udupas managed a smile and continued to serve
Mangalurians with delicacies mentioned above, some of which are not found in
many places, at least with good quality at affordable prices. I must say, the
Udupas have earned the goodwill because of the daily customers from all walks
of life. They maybe high class doctors, engineers, businessmen, industrialists,
accountants, lawyers, professors or from middle class salaried public and
private sector employees, autorickshaw and taxi drivers, garage mechanics or
labourers. Indra Bhavan serves them all with equal zeal and regard. They all
sit in the common hall and relish the hot snacks and beverages, if not some
traditional sweet meat or cool pick me ups. Some of the servers and kitchen
staff have been serving here for over Three or Four decades. PG Balakrishna the
cashier has 53 years of service here! A senior waiter who posed for a pic by
the sign board at the entrance proudly says that he is the senior most among
the waiters here. I can very well remember the senior man at the parcel
counter, who was there when I first visited Indra Bhavan in the early Nineties
for food parcel.
In an expected move, some builder purchased the property housing Indra Bhavan
in its old premises and it was inevitable for Udupas to move into some nearby
premises. They tried for many months, but things didn’t move in their favour
until they found an ideal location behind the petrol pump on Arya Samaj Road which the owner agreed to
let out. They took possession of that premises and renovated it with a blend of
old and modern look, giving a feeling for the regulars that Indra Bhavan spells
not only good food, but also homely ambiance. They vacated the old premises on
April 30th this year and relocated to the new premises on May 9th.
Throughout the process, one man who is an avid fan of Indra Bhavan, one who has
been a daily visitor there for over the last three decades was concerned about
them, and he is my friend Ruchir Agarwal, who owns Agarwal Agencies in the same
building Dwaraka Complex where Indra Bhavan has relocated. Mr. Agarwal is
direct neighbour to Indra Bhavan now, and he seems obviously happy to have his
daily snacks and coffee just next door! Mr. Agarwal is also the reason for me
to narrate this story and showcase some pictures of last days of Indra Bhavan
in its old premises and continued service in their new premises.
Ruchir Agarwal says “My day is never complete without snacks and coffee at
Indra Bhavan. My most favourite snacks here are buns sambar, sheera, rava dosa
and golibaje. I also like other snacks here and they are very tasty and
hygienic. Buns they make here has the perfect formula, the dough fermentation
is consistent giving the right taste and flavour, crisp outer crust and soft
spongy inner core are truly amazing! I never had any health issues like Delhi
Belly as long as I ate here. When I first got the news about them being asked
by the new owners to vacate the old premises, I was worried about losing my
favourite hangout. When they closed down for almost 10 days for relocating, I
had to depend on other restaurants and invariably developed stomach upset! I am
extremely happy to have my most favourite hotel Indra Bhavan next door”.
Blany fernandes of Khazana
Boutique says that he frequently comes here for snacks and tea. “Taste
is the same as when I used to come here since I was a small boy”, he says. He
adds that though Mangaluru has many modern restaurants with a/c ambiance,
nothing beats the homeliness and heritage within Indra Bhavan and its
employees.
Vasantha Bangera who runs his two wheeler garage Ganesh Auto Works smiles and
says, Indra Bhavan is part of my life, and I have grown with it. You can’t find
any food stuff here which can have negative remarks. Taste, cost, quality and
quantity remain consistent. We don’t have match for Indra Bhavan in our area.
Another regular customer, the famous Yakshagana exponent and scholar Dr.
Prabhakar Joshi says “Indra Bhavan means so many things for a Mangalurian with a
taste for traditional snacks. It has memories, it has history, it has culture
and it has amity. You can indulge in social networking without modern technology
or electronic media, at Indra Bhavan! You can suddenly bump into an old friend parted
long ago, settled in a distant country, eating goli baje and buns here. You can
just sit aloof, sip a cup of coffee and reminisce over the Fifties and the
Sixties Mangaluru. You can talk to the waiters and feel nostalgic! Indra Bhavan
has that magic, which modern swanky restaurants lack. For contemporaries like me,
it is nothing less than a temple!”
I met senior Advocate Kedla Shivarama Rao at the new premises and he looked
very happy about Indra Bhavan still continuing to serve in a new premises. “Starting
from my college days, I was regular at Vishwa Bhavan, especially from 1975 to
1979. Then when I started my profession in 1980, I changed over to Indra Bhavan
and ever since, a regular here. Their tasty and inexpensive traditional treats
keep me fit and fine, always cheerful. I am an old fashioned man still
traveling by city bus in spite of owning good cars, eating out at old hotels
like Indra Bhavan in spite of affording food in Star comfort! Happiness is
being associated with common people, simple living and high thinking. Indra
Bhavan provides me food for the mind and body, both.”
I agree with all of them, for I have experienced it all during my visits to
Indra Bhavan over the last 26 years. People who come here for breakfast or
evening tea are mostly friendly, and perhaps the food here makes them all
equally amicable!
I have tried to compare new setup with old one in the pictures above, to show
that nothing has changed much except premises and interiors for Indra Bhavan. Clean
vitrified flooring and strong moulded seats with same white marble top tables
and granite benches at the entrance for waiting customers, airy bright
interiors with ethnic old style windows, and pleasant colour scheme of exterior
and interior walls spell comfort. Two kitchens, one for making dosa and hot
beverages on the ground floor level and the other in basement level for making
other snacks look slightly smaller compared to the old setup but the cooks render
their service without much sweat even in the scorching summer heat, thanks to
good planning and ventilation. Same experienced staff with an addition of few
young faces continue to serve customers, regular well wishers, more new
customers visit here for definitely the best, gentle goli baje, bouncy buns and
other fried stuff, if not delectable dosas, awesome avalakki, superb sheera and
ultimate uppittu! Except a few snacks, prices for all the snacks continue to be
same as before, although operational costs are much higher in new premises. They
have invested in energy conservation with alternative fuel like cashew shell husk
for cooking. I didn’t forget to consume a cup of hot coffee and take a parcel
consisting of 3 plates of goli baje, 4 buns, 3 sajjige(uppittu) and 3 kesari
bhaat(sheera) for home, which cost just Rs. 200/- including an environmentally
friendly carry bag. The Udupas thus believe in social justice or in Sanskrit
‘Sarve Janaah Sukhino Bhavantu’.
Indra Bhavan has changed premises, but kept promises.
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| Making Goli Baje at the old premises |
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| Making Masala Dosa |
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| Expert Coffee Maker |
