Srinivas Rao, Mukunda, Ramesh and yours truly, were in the same department at the workplace. What was unique with us in the mid 1980s was that we were in our 50s, 40s, 30s and 20s in that order. Unfortunately, the first three have passed on, also in that order, making me the lone survivor now!
We used to join together twice every day to go to the canteen for coffee breaks. These were most refreshing fun filled breaks. Jokes were told, esp by the first two, Rao and Mukunda who were excellent in telling jokes while Ramesh and I enjoyed laughing. Rao laughed as he told, simultaneously. Funnily, he often laughed before he uttered! All of us had a good sense of humour and this is what had brought us together, actually back in 1983 itself. In fact, it was Rao who bonded the group in a way, when India won the Cricket World Cup that year. He hosted a party in the famous Mylari Hotel to celebrate India's maiden win. This hotel is/was renown for tasty and unique Masala Dosays plus Idli, which we washed down our gullets with excellent coffee. These were the only two items this hotel prepared on its menu and only up to noon. No evening opening. From that time onwards, we decided to go every month, each month hosted by one of us on rotation basis. Rotation was by draw of chits. (I have blogged separately on this hotel trips). We foursome did other things to eat out as well till about the year 2007.
Once on a working day, we went to a place called K.R.Nagar an hour's drive by bus just to eat Masala Dosay at the famous Sri Hotel in that small town, all of us applying one day leave, en masse! We would gather at the agreed time at the bus stand and travel. Then after that hotel breakfast, we traveled to the nearby Chunchunkatte where river Kaveri forcefully flows amidst rocky terrain. A popular picnic spot. There we spent till lunch time, relaxing near the flowing water. We went to the temple close by and the priest there specially arranged for us sumptuous and tasty lunch in the form of Puliogrey, which we remembered for several years. We profusely thanked as we rewarded the priest with some money for taking care of our hunger. This arrangement was unexpected but most welcome. Then relaxing on the temple platform relishing the taste of Puliogrey for sometime we travelled home.
Another time, we applied en masse half a day leave for the forenoon session. The programme was to see a morning show movie at Olympia talkies, have lunch at the hotel opposite there (well known in those days for good lunch) and go to office to attend the afternoon session.
Another working day, we travelled by bus to a place, an hour's drive, called Melukote. There is the beautiful temple of Sri Cheluvarayaswamy on top of a small hillock reached there by a flight of steep stone steps, below it is a Kalyani (pond). What we remembered more than the trip was the argument Mukunda picked up in the bus with a fellow villager-passenger about the price of butter back in "those days"....and the quality of it. It was a serious fight, but it was a draw. For this trip, we had one extra member in the form of Suresh.
By 2006, Mukunda had retired and had shifted to Bengaluru, three hours away. Srinivas Rao had retired before him. Ramesh was in his hometown there and was on leave. This time the programme was to meet there just to eat Dosay at the highly renown Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazar and have lunch in another hotel. From here, Rao and I traveled by train and gathered at the hotel at the set time. We enjoyed eating, went to nearby Lalbag gardens and relaxed there for a while and we dispersed to our places, Rao and I returning by train in the evening. Yet again it was a working day.
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| Scene at Vidyarthi Bhavan, starting to devour. Similar was the scene at Mylari Hotel. I had this new digital camera in 2006. Hence this memory. |
Aside from this group outings, there used to be other random little eatings. Thanks to one other colleague gastronomer Nagaraja. He enjoyed hosting breakfast in the form of Masala Dosay from, yes 'from', one Prasad Lunch Home (now closed). He would come half an hour early, packing Dosays to 4 other colleagues who were in the same room. He would take us to another hotel called Anand Vihar near Zoo and get us Bonda-Sambar which he was fond of. A few times, we went out for lunch in a hotel during lunch hour.
There was a good camaraderie among the colleagues, what with a strict workaholic boss and heavy work. Often many went to others' desks for short chit chats which the boss didn't mind as long as work was done.
Good memories with colleagues and the good times at the workplace we cherish for a long time.
