Wecome to 'HOT KALKATA CHAT'

< 24 May 2012, Thursday, Mahabalipuram > 

          As it was early in the evening, and the sea breeze was slowly settling down, I thought of having some spicy food. As a vegetarian, not interested in fish dishes, the place HOT KALKATA CHAT in Mahabalipuram seemed to be a nice option to me. Most of the items available are north Indian specials, and included samosas and kachori stuff. I ordered a plate of samosas, and sat down and started conversing with the owner of the shop, Rajkiran. 

         Rajkiran Singh is a trader from the district of Giridih in Jharkhand. He came to Chennai 5 years ago and started working as a material supplier to small hotels in and around Chennai. He worked for around one year and could get good knowledge about the places around Chennai, especially the tourist places. 4 years back, he set up this chat bhandar ‘HOT KALAKATA CHAT’ in Mahabalipuram to run his own business.

        Rajkiran says, in a place of so many dosa bhavans, and idly centres, the chat bhandar can attract a different set of customers, who need a change. His experience says, mostly the local students coming to the beach, prefer something they generally do not eat at home, and can enjoy eating it with friends. The foreigners, he says come here because of the variety of food and the name of the shop. Rajkran is not an educated person, but he can manage speaking in English and Tamil and other few languages. He says, it helps him a lot in catering to the needs of foreign tourists and other visitors.

        The interesting part of the conversation happened when I started looking at the menu, sitting inside the shop. I could not stay outside as there were no seats available (may be a deliberate arrangement) and I had to sit inside the shop, which is a small extension, and happened to see the Menu card. I could see so many items listed which are not at all relevant to a Chat bhandar. I could see all the Rotis, Rice and Paneer items. I asked him how come you are serving these items. He said, he also runs a Dhaba nearby.

        For all those customers, whoever comes to his shop, he introduces the Dhaba items also, and provides more options. Most of them, already sitting there eating Samosa, orders other items also and complete their dinner. The customers also have an option to order for a home delivery, if they like the taste. Then I could understand all his strategy of setting up an extension and catering more than what the customer is prepared for. I felt that he gives very good advertisement to his own Dhaba business through a small CHAT outlet in Mahabalipuram. 

        I also, happened to order a Biryani there and ended up having my dinner there. Anyways the food was good and I was satisfied :)
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FT13470
Sandeep Kumar R