Kaapi that!

A community that eats togetherhellipI am yet to find a suitably relatable second half to this statement especially in recent times given the dearth and the phasing out of such communityinspired eateries that were once the heart and soul of our city However I am aware that in todayrsquos day and age this adage is getting as obsolete as finding the perfect sambar that accompanies the dosaLast Sunday after ages I returned to my favourite Udipi in Mulund Vishwabharati to savour their famed medu vadasambar their sambar is spoton I took a moment to scan the main dining hall as I waited for the pipinghot delights of fried joy to arrive All the tables were occupied It looked like a happy place where families friends students and senior citizens came with the serious intent of enjoying plates filled with tasty authentic Udipi fare and the nononsense service and nofrills ambiance didnrsquot matter No Instagramcrazy folks No reelmaking No selfies At least on paper it seemed unaffected by the vagaries of time Sadly the truth as I was reminded of while tucking into the vadas one of the best versions in Mumbai trust me was far from itIrsquove been a regular at this eating house since I was a kid courtesy my parents who would head here for breakfast every Sunday after morning mass They would pick between this eatery and its sister concern Vishwa Mahal which was a stonersquos throw away Both haunts had their loyal patrons who would swear by its menus In fact I recall folks sparring over which place made crispier dosas or whose filter kaapi was better Both were large spaces that boasted airconditioned sections meant for relaxed family lunches and dinners We rarely looked for options beyond these two in those uncomplicated analogue times unless the urge to indulge in nonveggie fare emerged Located opposite entry points to the railway station both eateries fed the community that resided in the suburb and beyond too If a familiar face was spotted smiles or waves were exchanged wellmeaning efficient waiting staff and the owners knew the regulars on a first name basisIt was my first and most impressionable experience of a community eating house In fact while writing a feature for this newspaper in 2011 its late owner Sudhakar Shetty told me how his father Jagannath a Mazgaon resident took a leap of faith to open Vishwabharati in the late 1950s when it didnrsquot have even a proper road network and most of the suburb was a jungle When the time came to name this new eatery Sudhakarrsquos mother a keen follower of Rabindranath Tagorersquos writings and poetry suggested the name after Tagorersquos centre for the arts in West Bengal I sensed that things were in the process of turning a corner when Vishwa Mahal was sold to a popular fast food chain a few decades ago Today the same building that housed it has gone into redevelopment Vishwabharati used to be a 7 am to 11 pmkind of establishment But over the years I noticed how their working hours shrunk ldquoStaff issue madamrdquo rued the senior staffer in his broken English as I paid the bill He was doubling up as restaurant manager and was manning the counterNowadays their working hours are from 7 am to 7 pm Even the upper level airconditioned section has been shut for a while and the menu is a shrunken version of those glory days While we slurped the last drops of sambar and waited for the filter kaapi to arrive a sense of dread crept in aided by the visible neglect from its wornout furniture to paintdeprived walls and of course fewer staff How long will lsquoVBrsquosrsquo Itrsquos how we as school goers would call it to add a sense of coolth survive to stave off the real estate boom that is knocking on its doorstep What will become of this community spacemdashMulund oldest surviving Udipimdashwhose every inch was filled with a million memories with family and childhood friends What will happen to those nowaging staffers Will it spell the end of communityeating in the suburb and with it a slice of the suburbrsquos culinary heritageAs I soaked in the buzz on my way out I secretly wished that a benevolent Mulundkar would swoop in to save the space and resurrect it to its former glory Of late Irsquove noticed the mushrooming of faux versions of Udipis across the suburb where authentic and fusion mean the sameWith hindsight I feel a community that eats together must support each other There Irsquove found the ending Secretly I hold on to the hope that this iconic eatery is preserved and will continue to thrive as a culinary jewel of our suburb Anybody listeningmiddayrsquos Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the cityrsquos sights sounds smells and stoneswherever the ink and the inclination takes her She tweets bombayanaSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom