Bikers from an IT firm near the bus terminus on
Velachery main road vroom past full throttle as the clock nears 3 pm. The
motorists take a sharp left and stop. That’s where the Amma Unavagam is.
If it were Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s idea to
make quality food affordable to everyone, turns out that it worked. The Amma
Unavagam has become a hotspot for techies in Velachery who have been brought up
on the Tamil-style home saapadu.
A techie, who refused disclosure of his identity, tells
Express that he can only afford a tea at a small chaai kadai for Rs 8, but can
get a plate of sambar rice and curd rice for the same price at this canteen .
“My teammates tease me for coming here for lunch
instead of going to a food court,” the techie says. “There is a long queue, but
given the food quality and price, I don’t mind the wait,” he adds sheepishly.
The ever-enterprising IT youngsters don’t mind
rubbing shoulders with manual labourers and auto drivers to get a good meal at
a throw-away price. “They do not have something (side-dish) to go with the main
dish, but we are prepared. We bring our own pickle and chips, which they permit
here,” he says with a broad smile.
Canteen in-charge and head of Nivethitha (a women’s
self-help group) Renuka acknowledges that the canteen feeds people from all
walks of life. “Hospitality is our strength,” she says, adding that the cooks
cooked like they would for their families.
Unfortunately, there are more than one self-service
restaurants in Velachery now at the mercy of the Amma Unvagam. These
restaurants have to wait and depend on stragglers and people who don’t mind
steep rates for the same curd and sambhar rice to come along.
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