Know Your City: A mess and its connect with Kavignar Kannadasan

The mess, which had been shifting its base from one place to another within T Nagar, was first started at the very house where Kannadasan once lived. Till date, the mess is managed by the legendary poet’s family members.

On top of a wooden plank in the mess, there are portraits of several Hindu gods and alongside there is a portrait of Kannadasan. Around 5:30 pm, with Kandhashasti Kavasam (Tamil devotional song) running in the background on the radio, six workers are on standby in the kitchen premises to take orders. The customers, ranging from students to elderly citizens, make it a point to have a pit stop at this place before heading to their destination.

The students say the vadas and bondas and variety of dosas attract them to the place, while the elderly say the home-cooked style with less spice and oil is what makes them take an effort to reach the mess. Many people, who are unable to walk, sit in their own vehicles and enjoy their meals.

The eatery has several varieties of idlis which are made with ‘gun powder’, ghee, garlic; 50 varieties of dosas, including their trade mark ‘Poondu Dosai’ (garlic dosa) and other varieties like Idiyappam, parottas to name a few and the prices start from a minimum of Rs 10 for an idli. The costliest item in their mess is a Rs 120 dosa christened as ‘Balaji Special’ which has everything, including paneer, ghee, mushroom, gunpowder, etc.

According to Sri Kalaiselvi Chokkalingam, the daughter of the legendary poet, the mess was initially named Balaji Fast Food before it became the Kavignar Kannadasan Mess.

The students say the vadas and bondas and variety of dosas attract them to the place, while the elderly say the home-cooked style with less spice and oil is what makes them take an effort to reach the mess. (Express)

“It’s been 23 years since we started this mess. I had been taking care of this mess for 20 years and now for the past five years, my elder son (Srinivasan Kannadasan) is taking care of it. We started this mess with just Rs 500 at a small place in our house itself on Kannadasan Street. It was just me and my husband (Pal Chokkalingam) back in those days. My husband lost his job and we wanted to do something to earn money. Though we could have asked help from our family, we didn’t want to do so and started this mess as I know how to cook. Initially, we made tiffin items like dosa and idli and sold them in the evening. Within a span of three months, we made good business. We didn’t even have a signboard for the shop and since we needed to name it something, we named it Balaji Fast Food. But people identified this place with my father and started to refer to this as the Kannadasan mess and eventually, the mess became the Kavignar Kannadasan Mess,” said Kalaiselvi.

She added that when she came up with an idea to run a mess, people asked her to use her father’s name but she was reluctant about it.

“I said a big no when people asked me to keep my father’s name for the mess. I told them that how can I name an eatery after the great man? I told them it would be logical to keep my father’s name if I open a book shop but the customers were pressuring me to name the mess after my father,” she said.

She added, “Around the time when (Ajith starrer) Kadhal Mannan released, which showed M S Viswanathan running a mess named after Kannadasan, people started referring to the movie and said serving food to people is a noble gesture and it would be apt to name it after the great poet and I finally agreed to it.”

Kalaiselvi was around 20 when Kannadasan died and her equation with her father, according to her, became closer only post her marriage. Her husband Chokkalingam says Kannadasan accepted him as his son-in-law as the latter had a dream a few days before meeting him that a man whose star sign is Rohini would marry his daughter.

Chokkalingam added that Kavignar had a good look at him for some minutes and after enquiring about his education and job, he told him that he will be his son-in-law.

“I got close to appa only after my marriage because during my school days we just spoke to appa when needed and maintained a distance. It was always amma (Parvathi Kannadasan) who acted as a bridge between us and appa,” added Kalaiselvi.

She noted that on several occasions people shook hands with her and emotionally said that they see Kavingar through her and they feel like they had their food at Kavingar’s house and in those moments, she says, she used to think how fortunate she is to be born to a great artist.

“Many people from other towns used to visit this place. There are many customers who have been visiting this mess for over 20 years. We don’t add food colour or artificial seasoning which could affect a person’s health and that is one of the reasons why the customers keep coming back to this shop. More than business, it’s like an emotional bonding for me. I get to see how much people still love my father. As much as we are happy and proud, we also constantly remind ourselves how careful we should be as even a small mistake will bring a bad name for appa,” said Kalaiselvi.

Chokkalingam (75) acknowledged that the way they used to run the mess and how his son maintains now is quite different but he is happy that his son still maintains the values and manages to run it successfully.

Chokkalingam, Kalaiselvi, Srinivasan Kannadasan and Kamali (Express)

Commenting on popular celebrities who used to make a stop at their place, Chokkalingam said actors Sivakumar, Manobala; directors Bharathiraja, Muktha Srinivasan and poet Na Kamarasan used to regularly visit their place.

Srinivasan Kannadasan (41), an MBA graduate, who currently manages the mess alongside his wife Kamali, says it’s been a roller-coaster ride ever since he took over the mess in 2007.

Srinivasan said, “The mess started in 1999 and I had just finished my college at that time. We used to serve only evening tiffin items and in the late 2000s, we started serving food both in the afternoon and in the evening. Since there were very few restaurants in our area back in those days, our business was doing very well. We did have issues with the traffic police as there used to be a beeline of customers on the road.”

He added, “I gradually started to help appa and amma, as there used to be a mad rush and the two were not able to manage the crowd. After two-three years, the business was slightly hit and in 2007 my father had to undergo bypass surgery and as my parents were not able to come to the mess regularly, the responsibility fell on me to run the show. I was working at a private firm during that time and I couldn’t allocate time to take care of the mess and do my regular work at the same time and hence I decided to quit my job to take care of the mess. Though I had been to the mess, helped my father and mother, I had never been on my own. It was a different ball game to be honest,” Srinivasan said.

He noted that he and his brother (Saravanan Kannadasan) had initially decided to split the work hours but as his brother moved onto some other business, he had to take care of the mess entirely on his own.

“I had a very hard time managing the workers because they never returned once they went home. People used to ask for an increment during the work hours and if we refused, they would leave the place right then. So, at one point of time, I decided that I should not depend on anyone and should be able to do everything by myself, even making the food items. My wife Kamali is a pillar of support. We both learnt everything right from the scratch and now we can make all the items on our own,” he added.

The mess, which used to provide food since 11 am, shifted their opening hours to the evening post Covid-19 as many employees left and there were not many takers. But now, Srinivasan says after Pongal, they are planning to provide service from 3 pm till 11 pm.

“People from several far-flung distances are finding this place to have food. We don’t do much branding. However, we had to put up a board as several establishments started using our name for their mess. The business is going good so far. We are planning to expand it. We want to open a big restaurant with the same name. We have started working towards it and hopefully it happens soon,” said Srinivasan.

Commenting on his grandfather, Srinivasan said in his early age, he didn’t realise the popularity of Kannadasan until he reached college.

“The name (Kannadasan) has its own value. I started to realise what a great man he is only after witnessing the respect people have towards him. They say they have seen aiyaa (Kannadasan), worked with him at modern theatres and speak about him with high regards. Several elderly people say till date they sleep only after listening to his songs and say they help them to stay motivated in difficult times. He is always our identity and he continues to be with us in our journey,” he added.