I have been running my Annapoorna Tiffin Centre from this cart in the bylane of the General Hospital in Puthur for the past 13 years.
I serve idli, dosai, pongal and vadai. Among chutneys we offer coconut, tomato and mint.
As for gravies, sambar is available, and khurma for those who want to have it with dosai.
I come here at 7.30am, and my work is over by 11am. My wife, daughter and son help me to get everything ready at home.
The difference between my food and hotel fare is that there’s the taste of homemade goodness in my preparation.
We have to bear the traffic dust because we are on the roadside. It gets more difficult when it is raining. I have to protect the roof of my stall with tarpaulin and keep working until the food is sold out.
Some of my customers have been with me for years – some have come back after taking a break.
Roughly 30-50 people eat from my stall everyday. Most of them are working in the hospital.
My customers usually don’t waste their food, because I always tell them to place orders for only for as much as they can eat.
If I spend around Rs. 1000 on the food preparation, I earn around Rs.1500 back. I buy the ingredients from wholesale stores in the market.
It is sad that banks refuse to sanction loans for us because we are such small operators. ‘You are on the roadside, you’ll just vanish with the money,’ is their attitude.
I follow all the government rules, and have also applied for the new permit announced for street vendors recently.
I’d like everyone to work hard and earn a livelihood instead of wasting their time.
(A fortnightly column on men and women who make Tiruchi what it is)
