Lunch at "A Rama Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding"

Last Saturday afternoon, I was at Matunga (C.R.) to buy some things from the market. Since I landed up at Matunga station taking a C.R. train, I thought I might as well eat some South Indian stuff. There was the hopelessness of making a choice from among so many eateries there: Starting from "Ram Ashraya" near the station, "Saraswati", to "Cafe Mysore", "Anand Bhavan", "Cafe Madras" at Maheshwari Udyaan. "Idli House" was out of the question as it would be closed for lunch (what business sense?). Calculating at what seemed to be the speed of light, the mind zeroed in onto "Dahi Rice" at either "Cafe Mysore" or at "Ram Ashraya". But when I came out of the station, of course, there was "A. Rama Nayak's Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding" (hereafter referred to as ARN USKB) (review by Busybee is here) to be considered. How could I have forgotten to consider that? All computational power used up was wasted and I decided to go to the ARN USKB. One of the main driving forces was that I hadn't visited that eatery for many years now.

So up the flight of stairs behind Matunga vegetable market (BMC market) and I arrived on the first floor. Lots of people (well-dressed) waiting in a queue. (Those Gujjus certainly contribute to lot of these ARN's business, I thought.) I went past those people and landed up near the counter...the same boss (Satish Nayak from Idli House seated there). I gave him a Rs. 100 note and he gave me some coupons and Rs. 71. That made the lunch cost equal to Rs. 29. But I could've opted for a bare minimal meal and got only one (main) coupon...I think that would have cost me Rs. 23 or so.

Anyways, I was directed inside the "general" seating hall, ahead of all the people waiting. It wasn't that I used influence...those people waiting were for the "unlimited" section, I guess. The "general" or the "limited" section is for getting only limited food. Sayings by "Sane Guruji" and his photograph were displayed on the walls. I could not understand the relationship between Udipi and "Sane Guruji". Maybe ARN was firmly impressed by Guruji's thoughts and ideals.

After being seated, a "server" came to my table, took one of the coupons, and put down a glass of buttermilk. Then, came a plate with 2 chapatis, 2 mounds of rice, a bowl of sambar, a bowl of kadhi, papad, and 2 vegetable preparations (subji). I finished eating it. Some "servers" keep moving about asking if we would like more of the gravy. I then gave another coupon and took a bowl of curd. Another coupon was for the sweet dish. There were 4 sweet dishes to choose from. I took "aamras". I was done with my lunch. Then, it was time to look around.

Oh I could see people of all kinds...some Gujarati women, some North Indian men, even a Muslim family with women in burqas. I was surprised to see this family. I mean one does not expect people who relish non-vegetarian food to eat at this eatery. Maybe they did not know what they would get, but one second thoughts, no one would come to the eatery on the first floor of a municipal market whose entrance is at the very end of the road (next to the tracks) had they not known about it. Maybe they just felt like eating "plain" food for one lunch.

Of course, there were people from the relatively lower-middle classes. At Rs. 23 for a gentle-on-the-stomach lunch plate, why would anyone want to eat somewhere else?