The ‘dosai’ dilemma

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

When I was a student of National College, Basavanagudi, in 1968, we had unlimited options for our lunch or snacks. Vidyarthy Bhavan (VB), with its signature dish Benne Masale Dosai, was the most favoured one. As VB always used to be crowded and with the limited time we had, eating there was a challenge.

Never the one to give up, I learnt the art of grabbing a table in the face of stiff competition. In one quick glance at the 16 odd tables, my friend and I would zero-in on the one about to get vacated.

Once marked, we would dash towards that table even as the customer was getting his bill. This involved mastering the skill of literally elbowing out our competitors. This ability to fix the goal and the skill to reach it, stood me in good stead when I appeared for the Civil Services exams later. Needless to say, I have used the elbow skill many times after joining the Police.

Eternally short of cash, we would order by-two masala. And wait salivating. Whenever a waiter appeared balancing a dozen plates of hot dosais like a circus artiste, we hoped one of it would be ours. But at VB we had to wait. Its strict policy of first-come-first serve, made us develop patience which too helped me in my police job.

The crisp dosai filled with aloo palya and a dollop of Mandya butter, about to be flooded by the watery chutney, was quietly devoured. We washed it down with a glass of water, as we didn’t have money to buy by-two coffee.

On each steel tumbler in VB there was an engraving, ‘stolen from Vidyarthy Bhavan’. We found it funny then, but later as a cop, I felt it was a great idea to prevent theft. Along with the bill, the waiter would present squarely cut pieces of newspaper to wipe our oily fingers. And if this didn’t work, there was a piece of detergent soap kept on the wash basin. But like Lady Macbeth, I discovered all the soaps of India cannot sweeten my little hand (of the dosai flavour) and gave it a go by.

My first re-visit to VB, after college, was with my friend YNK, a famous journalist and a fellow foodie. Nothing had changed. YNK introduced me to saagu masale dosai which I found it to be tastier than the palya dosai.

Whenever I visited VB, I would be in a Hamletian dilemma: palya dosai or saagu dosai? Someone suggested eating both. But I couldn’t. So I alternated between the two.

Soon the owner became a friend and my problem was solved. The cook filled my dosai with both palya and saagu, and this is the type of dosai I have been eating there.

In the past 55 years nothing much has changed at VB. I have taken four generations of my family there. I visit VB as it remains a symbol of good ‘ole’ Bengaluru, and reminds me of my youthful days rekindling fond memories.