A tiffin shop in Madras

Nestled in a busy corner of Thyagaraya Nagar

Covered by a thatched blue asbestos roof

Lies Tanjore Mani’s quaint little Tiffin shop

With a printed board inviting passerby

 

Be they college students, professionals or workers

Nothing short of a smile is wrought when the

Few folded notes are exchanged for a Plantain leaf

Covered plastic plate – The witness being a Balaji portrait

 

Batter fermented with the choicest yeast - laid

In neat circles to produce white Idlis, tiny dots punctuated

Where steam tries to escape upward – Served with

An assortment of Chutneys and Sambhar

 

Red, White and Green – enough to fill a palette

The chutneys go with crispy Dosas as well – peppered with

Onions, spice or potatoes as the customer asks

Forgetting not, to serve some seconds as well

 

On special days, the queues include grandmas too

Asking for the Medu Vada – garnished with spices

Prepared in oil all the way from Kerala

Wrapped in a brown paper package

 

But all inevitably ask for Mani’s special Tea

Spiced with masala and Elachi

Sweetened with native sugar

Flavored with strong cow’s milk

 

The patrons have to stand while they munch

Yet, no deterrence that is to daily visitors

On the way to work or back home

Or to take some more for the family

 

Come the internet or the smartphone

Or tragedies like the lockdown or the flood

Mani’s and his asbestos roof brave it all

A nod to the city of Chennai – and what makes us human