Idlis served with joy
“Do I really inspire you?” asks Kalaimathy, the idli lady of the Fisherman’s Colony in Mamallapuram who got featured very briefly in this space a fortnight ago. And I responded, “more than any other story I have heard in a long long time”.
Kalaimathy has been running a little idli shack on a crowded little road in Mamallapuram for the last 17 years. When her husband left her for another woman, leaving behind three kids (two girls and a boy) she had to struggle to find a way to support her family. She found an empty plot in the Fisherman’s colony, contacted the owner and finalised a deal for a shack to serve idlis.
Some lives inspire us, sometimes we inspire others and sometimes we inspire ourselves. This is her story. On the day she was featured in MetroPlus , she became a celebrity in the small town. And she decided to build up her business.
The next day she borrowed money and rebuilt her dilapidated shack and the counter. With a beaming smile she called me to show me the improved space. “Take another picture, it looks better now,” she said. So we did.
I sense a confidence boost in her and she now giggles delightedly every time she sees me.
For a quick bite
Today almost every household in the colony, travelling surfers and tourists seek her idli s for breakfast. There are very rare days when she does not open the shop. On days when she is closed the news spreads around the town like a forest fire. The idli lady is on leave, and everyone is upset.
On an average she makes about 500 idlis in a day. Her day begins much before the break of dawn at 4 am. She makes sambar and chutney at home, loads everything in an auto and heads to her shack. By 6.30, she is ready to serve. Three idlies , chutney and sambar for ₹20.
With determination, dedication and focus today she is the proud mother of a to-be engineer and a to-be lawyer.
A sandy bottom by the ocean
When you walk into Sandy Bottom cafe you cannot but notice the art work and the funky decor of the cafe. It screams the personality of Anna, a German tourist who first came to Mamallapuram four years back and not only fell in love with this town but also in love with Mumu, a surfer and the founder of Mumu Surf School.
Today Mumu and Anna (now married) run this quaint, soulful little cafe adjacent to the surf school on Othavadai Street. Anna, an environmentally conscious person, decided to decorate her cafe by using material from a scrap dealer. Every piece of wood work, tables and chairs or the little window on a wall is re-modified. With oodles of patience only she could have done the intricate graffiti, or the designs on her walls.
Idlis and sambar
The cafe is filled with a variety of flora and, of course, many stray dogs always find room to lounge here. Every dish is decorated in detail and she often uses the ingredients as a bowl too. For example, if you order a papaya-based salad, she prefers to serve it in the papaya shell, which she thinks is not only pleasing to the eye, but in a small way saves water.
Recently in a drive to avoid the use of plastic whenever possible, Mumu and Anna introduced steel straws. Anna says, “I hope that more people will be inspired to use steel straws when they know its an option.” Germany is known for its breads and Sandy Bottom serves its own breads.
Her cafe can seat a maximum of 10 people at a time. It’s a good option if you want a cup of hot chai, fresh juice and a good time by the sea. Look out for it at the end of Othavadi Street.
New visitors bring cheer
Mamallapuram has a dead look about it in the month of September. For a UNESCO heritage site, this is not good for the tourism industry which is the back bone of survival here, along with fishing. But the long weekend of Dussehra made up for this lapse. It was the most crowded weekend ever witnessed here. We had never seen a traffic jam: it took four hours to clear!
I noticed that most of the cars had Karnataka, Kerala or a Pondy registrations. Yes, this is slowly becoming a “go to” place for weekends for party lovers.
Food and Soft drink in Sandy Bottom Cafe
The innumerable cafes and rooms that have sprung up helps this flow of Indian tourists and that’s a welcome change. As a surfer its a wonderful sight to see so many Indians giving surfing a go. I always have a big smile when customers tell me, “Thank you for the surf suggestion, it was the most fun thing we’ve ever done”. Go surfing!
The writer is a surfer and restaurateur who lives in Mamallapuram.
