Masti Puliyogare, DVG Tatte Idli, Rajkumar Masala Dose, Da. Ra. Bendre Nimbe Chitranna, Gopalkrishna Adiga Kodbale...
The menu at appropriately named ‘Kannadada Thindi Kendra’ on Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Road at Chamarajpet comes with heavy dollops of Kannada literature! The food served from 6.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. attracts over 800 people each day. “Even the water here is called Sir M. Visveswaraya’s Neeru at our food joint. We aim to make our visitors aware of the history and heritage of Karnataka,” says owner K.V. Ramachandra.
“We have a combo called SKC, short for ‘Sweetu Kara Coffee’, which writers like DVG and Masti Venkatesha Iyengar are said to have enjoyed as they gathered at small eating joints and discussed politics and books. I thought why not name our dishes after them and have their works showcased,” says the 53-year-old Mr. Ramachandra.
Every year, he also distributes around 1,000 Kannada books to various people, besides running a library adjoining the kendra, with a collection of over 1,000 books. Mr. Ramachandra supplies books, magazines and journals to high schools, and has them displayed at his eatery. He also has 500 rare portraits of Kannada writers.
“In Karnataka, we have to make it a habit to have a passion to read. Eateries, I realised, are the best place to bring in the trend,” says Mr. Ramachandra.
“When Mukhyamantri Chandru visited us recently, he was happy to see people asking for books to take home,” he recalls. “Nisar Ahmed and M. Chidananda Murthy have eaten here too. Hampa Nagarajaiah was so inspired that he even said we could take some books from his collection for distribution,” he adds.
Mr. Ramachandra will distribute 100 copies of the Kannada dictionary to several achievers in Chamarajpet on Tuesday.
