The full platter

Regulars here are amazed by the cool efficiency with which the teeming crowds are directed to their tables,orders taken and delivered without a mix-up,and tables cleared swiftly for the next set of customers.

As you enter the canteen,you are greeted by ‘professionally’ polite men who tell you to first get a token and wait thereafter.

You are to inform the person at the counter about the number of people in your party,and also place orders for any special non-vegetarian dishes,which are not part of the standard thali served here. You are handed little slips,called tokens,with a number and your order.

When your turn arrives,you are led to your table,and the thalis materialise before you —- all within minutes.

In fact,there is something ‘more’ in the way the staff here receives customers. “They always leave the customers feeling satisfied,” says Venugopal,the operations manager at the canteen.

At the helm of affairs is 50-year-old Satyanarayan,who bustles around eyeing the plates of his patrons. One look and he knows what is missing in each plate. He shouts in Telugu,points to the customers,and the empty rectangles/katoris in your plate are quickly replenished.

Visibly a multi-tasker,Satyanarayan is the owner of Sai Caterers,the agency that has been outsourced the contract to run the canteen in Andhra Bhavan since 1991.

In a single line,he sums up the success story of the canteen. “Feeding people gives me satisfaction.”

Owing to its proximity to the Capital’s power centre — North and South Block — the canteen is frequented by most political leaders and bureaucrats. Rahul Gandhi and Veerappa Moily are regular patrons,says Satyanarayanan.

With a capacity to seat 162 people on the ground-floor,and 62 on the first level for the ‘special’ guests,Satyanarayan insists that it is impossible to give a more ‘specialised’ service even to VIPs. The second mantra to his success is: “Every guest is special to us.”

“We serve homely and hygienic food. That’s the reason people come back to eat here. There is no marketing strategy at play here. The goodwill and the massive popularity has been built only by the people that work here,” says Venugopal.

Ask him about Satyanarayanan,and Venugopal is all praises. “He is an icon. He has a face value that no one else has,and a strong voice too. He is personally involved at every step,” he says.

Venugopal recalls how a famous doctor from Bangalore once left Satyanarayan an unusual gift. “It had a microphone and earphones,the doctor insisted that shouting would harm his throat in the long run.”

Satyanarayan,however,says pitching and modulating his voice and eyeing the plates is an art he has honed over the years.

And as long as he is watching,you can be sure your plate will not go empty until you are replete and raise your hands.