The name sets the mood. Mitthai Theru. The street for sweets. Or, the Sweet Street, if you will.
The name makes a positive impact on shoppers and visitors to this iconic shopping hub that has now got a makeover. The name reflects the cheer, the camaraderie, the rubbing of shoulders, the smiles, the aggressive sales pitch by vendors, prayer calls from the mosque and the peal of bells from the two temples on the street, and the fragrance of perfumes, sweets, and freshly ground coffee.
Mitthai Theru has a strange romantic appeal for the people of Malabar. In terms of looks, the street is plain, homely. It’s a narrow street lined with shopfronts on both sides. There are no iconic buildings, no elegant structures, and no constructions that are architecturally pleasing. The shops which sold the legendary Kozhikodan halwa gave the street its name, but now the street has only a few halwa shops. But, for the Kozhikode residents, and the Malabar populace, the street has a sweet place in their heart.
“When I landed in Kozhikode 12 years ago on transfer, the first thing I wanted to see was Mitthai Theru as I had heard a lot about the street,” recalls a middle-aged school teacher who hails from Vaikom. “Over the years, I have fallen in love with it.”
“You can buy anything on S.M. Street, except father and mother.” This is the common refrain about the shopping hub which has some 4,000 shops and whose wares include the latest electronic goods, designer dresses, farm tools, ancient coins, copper and brass implements, old radios and tape-recorders, curios and virtually anything. Repairs and servicing of most kinds are possible too. A woman recalled how she could get an old Murphy radio, which was her girlhood friend, repaired. “If you fancy a rare or out-of-fashion product, just go to the street; chances are you could get them.” For out-of-city shoppers, the warmth, friendliness and helpfulness of the shopkeepers and shop clerks are a striking factor. “If a particular shop doesn’t have the thing you are looking for, the shopkeeper will tell you where you will get it and even guide you to the place,” says a Mitthai Theru admirer.
Parts of Court Road, Palayam Road, Moideen Palli Road, P.M. Taj Road, Vaikom Mohammed Basheer Road are now considered a part of the Mitthai Theru shopping district. The huge bust of S.K. Pottekkatt, who wrote a novel on the life on the street during World War II, guides the shoppers onto the street.
Expectations
The city has been talking about the Mitthai Theru renovation for a year now. The renovation as such is not a big thing —cobble-stoning of the street and some cosmetic put-ups. But the expectation it generated and the controversies it created have been vast and varied. The controversy was mainly about the proposed ban on vehicular traffic on the street.
When Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan opens the renovated Mitthai Theru on February 23, it will be yet another sweet chapter in the life of the legendary Sweet Street — and perhaps a future without vehicular traffic.
