19. Canteen Vijayan and Pappachan

 Anyone who has  been in REC as a student  or a staff member or visited the campus otherwise for a day or less will not forget  two persons, the Canteen contractor  Vijayan and the tea shop owner Pappachan.  Both are doing the greatest service one can do, to feed those who are hungry. Of course, the food is not free, but after collecting a very reasonable charge after giving the clients tasty and healthy food.

It  was  way back in 1965 when one day  Dr M V Keshava Rao, then Principal  of the college  called Mr.Vijayan to his chamber and asked him “ For what  price can you give tea and vegetarian meals   to our staff and students?”.It seems  Vijayan promptly said :   “ 10 paisa  for tea and Re.1/ for meals” , Principal was expecting at  least 15 paisa  for tea when Vijayan told him this. The canteen contract was obviously given to Vijayan, subsequently nonvegetarian dishes were added and  a bakery section added  still later.

Vijayan was running our canteen ever since except for a break for a  few years  in between. When I joined REC in 1969, Vijayan was managing the show and he was available in the canteen most of the time with his  typical  Prem Nazeer type  moustache and a pleasant smile on his face always welcoming  the clients to the  canteen. In the beginning, the canteen building was too small and he made a palm leaves-thatched round temporary shed in front of the permanent building.  About 15 years back, the canteen building was expanded with a top floor and adding another wing to the West so that there was  adequate space and the temporary shed  was demolished.  For a short while, when  Vijayan was away from our  campus, he was running a hotel Shalimar  on the side of Radha theatre in Kozhikode, S M street and also for some time in Calicut University campus.  He had also a small stint on Providence Women’s College too, but he was never far away from the REC Campus and the people who lived here. When the  administration called him back, he came back happily to serve REC campus people.

The canteen contractor is required to sell meals, tea and snacks at the price fixed by the college administration and the rent for the building collected from him  was very nominal. Naturally  in these days of  large fluctuation in the price  of vegetables and other provisions, it was not at all profitable to run the show. Of course, he was free to fix the  price of nonvegetarian dishes   or sweets with which he could make up a part of the loss, but the  profit  made, if any, was marginal. But all these days, he had been serving the people tasty and hygienic  food  without  any break. He must be congratulated for this noble service all these years.  There was not even a single occasion all these  years when there was a complaint that  unpalatable  or spoilt food has been served in the canteen and no one, I repeat, no one has  ever fallen sick by eating the food from the canteen run by Vijayan. It must be more than 50 years of service by canteen and he is still continuing his great job even now with full vigour. Many of the boys employed by him   have got some good jobs elsewhere with his recommendations. Of late ,  his helpers are mostly from Nepal, but if he finds that any one working in the canteen behaves rudely to any one of the customers  or does not maintain utmost cleanliness, he will kick him out immediately. 

An occasional tea party or feast during  Onam or Vishu days or so  were  the few occasions when he could make some profit, but these days this will  be conducted at the College  guest house when he will lose that  also. Recently a Convention Centre has been opened near Manassery which also has affected  Vijayan’s business as  most of the  wedding receptions are  now held in this posh convention centre. Vijayan who was living in Mokkam subsequently moved to Karanthoor  in a residential complex, but he was always  present in  the canteen at least by 7 AM and remain till  8 PM.  One of his sons has got his training in catering technology but Vijayan continues his old style liked by all. The most sought-after person when our students  visit our campus for the silver jubilee reunion after 25 years is  their old friend Vijayan. Vijayan has been so much in the hearts of the residents of the campus, students and staff  members equally. Probably he knew the  old saying “ The  best way to reach the heart of a person  is through his mouth(food) “, the usual advice given to brides in our country.

Vijayan is always helpful to those who come for cinema shooting in the campus. Several Malayalam films have been shot in the campus and Vijayan was always willing to help them without taking any undue profit, serving them good food and arranging for their movement  to locations in the campus. Even if the movie makers might have forgotten him, we cannot forget  how he played hosts to all these  people.

It  is  unfortunate  that  now  after the  Covid  break,  our canteen  is not functioning at all. When   I recently visited the campus for the  reunion  of  1995 and 1996  batches, the canteen  is  closed almost  permanently, I heard that  Vijayan was admitted in a hospital  for a  pace maker replacement. He  lost  his wife an year  back.  We wish him healthy  years ahead. I am not sure  whether  he will  restart  the  canteen if invited as  he  is too  old. This  will  be possible only if  his  son takes  up  the  job.

Pappachan

Pappachan who was running a small tea shop  on the far side of the institute was another person whom no one can forget. Earlier his shop was very near the gate leading to the panchayat road on this side, but later when the industrial estate acquired that site, he had to move  to the  far side  on the Kattangal Koduvally road. His shop was a palm leaves or coconut leaves thatched building with floor made of mud and cow dung polished neatly arranged with simple furniture and crystal-clear  well water to drink. Pappachan was a fanatic as far as cleanliness is concerned and he wanted even his customers to behave properly while visiting the shop for taking food. No student was allowed to tap on the desks or scribble  on the desk tops while waiting for food.

Pappachan hails from Southern part of the state and when he reached Calicut alone,  he  combined with the father of Raghavan his  co-worker  for a very long time to start this shop. Together with Raghavan , Pappachan was running the shop almost 30 or more  years.

The food served in Pappachan’s shop was equally tasty as the surrounding were clean. When we used to go there, if you tell once how your tea should be, strong light or medium with less sugar or more sugar or without, he will never forget it  once he is told about our requirement. It was always custom made for the client not mass produced at all. He used to serve meals for a limited number of persons on  prior intimation. Best quality rice, sambar, thoran, aviyal, pappad and pickles were the dishes. Curd will be served in glasses and you can see these  kept  in the cupboard in as many glasses as the number of clients. Those who order food should come before 130 PM and no food will be served after that time.

The tragedy was that in spite of all these, he hardly made any profit from the shop and even if there is loss, Pappachan never used to compromise on the quality of the food he served for his customers. Now he is very old, the shop still exists namesake but his finances are poor obviously. By his nature, he will not ask for help from any corner but some of the batches of students coming for re-union has helped him to some extent. But not enough. While at the college  for reunion , I could  visit  him and  give a  few  bucks as  my little contribution. He was  reluctant  to take it,  but I forced it into his  pocket.

Let me take this opportunity to salute both these kind-hearted persons for serving tasty food to the staff and students of REC without any profit in mind. There  is a saying  in Malayalam “ Anna daanam  mahaa daanam” which means “Giving  food  to the hungry  is the  greatest  service  one  can do other  human  beings”.