Vidyarthi Bhavan lies in the heart of Gandhi Bazaar, one of Bangalore's better known market places, and which bustles with life from dawn till the late hours of the evening.
There wouldnt be too many in the local populace of the surrounding areas or even many parts of Bangalore who wouldn't have heard of Vidyarthi Bhavan, such is the fame associated with the place. For the uninitiated, lest they think otherwise, lemme first say it a small hotel
that is famous for its Masala Dosaes ' and only that. And how famous !
Not for nothing is it called an ATG ( All Time Great).
Inconspicuous it may seem for the first timer and also make-believe what the brouhaha is all about and, surely,unwarranted. For it's got no decor, let alone any ambience that can be inviting and surely there's no music being played at any given time. There are no plush interiors or
cushioned seats to ensconce oneself into. Why, the tables and the bench seats have been the same since as long as I can date back and all they have probably got is a new coat of paint.
The air inside is either damp /hot/stuffy, there are no vents to the outside and the few fans that whir away from the ceiling do little to alleviate anything. Space is always/or mostly at a premium in this long and narrow place, which is just a few feet wide wall- to - wall and runs long like an alley into the interior. People jostle for space in this little area, trying to find a seat as quickly as possible, prying on the tables /plates of those eating, doing their best to figure out who is close to finishing and vacating their seats ! And its located in the midst of the thriving market, between so many shops plying their wares and the fruit and veggie vendors always crying for attention, that one can just walk past it without noticing.
So whats it that draws people to this place time and again, unmindful of what all little
discomforts they have to put up with.. Its the Masala Dosae, as kannadigas would call it.
And eating is believing here ! Folks, I 'm no mean connoisseur of MDs and have sampled them at various places across the country and outside, including the ubiquitous Davangere Benne Masalae, whose franchisees seem to mushroom all over the place(Blore) of late and ppl throng
its small self service joints to binge on the DBMD. Vidyarthi Bhavan though, in my opinion, stands out from the rest and though the difference between it and the others might not be as clear as daylight, there's only a distant second and none too close. I'm sounding really partisan here, ain't I !
Vidyarthi Bhavan is/has been a favourite haunt when the rains come. What the heck, the streets have just been awash with the downpour, the whiff of the rain drenched mud is one to savour and as the rainbow breaks out, you should have no misgivings about wanting to gorge on hot pakoras or Kaali Dosae at Dwaraka( another vintage place), but best of all the Rave Vade and the Dosae at Vidyarthi. Its the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.. :)
And so it was when it poured last Sunday and we were deprived of our cricket session at Tini's ,
Katte, Gunda, Viji and me made a unanimous call that we had to satiate our craving at VB and
set out among the puddles and the ceasing rain and squelched through all the filth washed up by the rain and entered VB. The showers had brought about a change in blowing some cool air thro the hotel and surprisingly the place wasn't too crowded, most folks still waiting for the rains to abate. The only thing we can order besides a MD is a Rava Vade, so the orders are pretty obvious and while we wait for the Dosae we nibble on the Vade.
A sight that catches your gaze is the ingenuity of the waiters as they scurry in and out of the kitchen, pulling of balancing acts of 10-12 plates of Dosaes stacked on on top of the other and never slipping anytime. There's a perfect 10 balance, if you can say so !
The dosaes are finally laid out before us, piping hot and the roast simply perfect to the last crumb. Surely, this kinda resembles the perfect bread toast one can ever wish for, dabbed with butter which is melting by the minute ! The crust too is just the right thickness, a far cry from the pretentious stuff we get at other places, where its so powdery / sharp, that as Gunda says, we end up with bleeding gums by the time we are half through it. Else, they are of the soft n soggy and sour dough combination type.. Thats the pits !
The first dosaes are devoured without much ado and small talk and the only sound is the murmur of appreciation from all of us and the shaking of the head as if to say there's no beating this.. no other place would serve dosae that would break just the way we want it,
or has just the right amt of potato palya inside.. The second helpings too are ordered without much afterthought and they vanish at a slower rate this time, helping out each other ..
Easy does it brothers, we are catching on in years, and this might yet come out of our ears !
And the clintele are there to vouch for all this..Vidyarthi Bhavan dates back years in time and is seemingly ageless. Yes, they have been coming from years for the vade - Dosae tiffin and to exchange news, gossip and pleasantries over coffee. From, the college crowd who pool whatever small change they have and delight in sharing the spoils, the burgeoned well to do middle class (much of it thro sware), the pensioners who enter in lil motley groups and reminisce about their younger days at VB , while deploring the current state of affairs of the govt and the spoilt youth and anything else under the sun, the from- out-of-state junta who leave in nearby apartments /Guest houses to Bawari Lal, whose job as a chief sales guy/distributor for a well known pharma company fetches him a monthly profit of 75 Lakh, all of them flock to VB for the gastronomic adventures that can be so luring. Never mind the wait inside or outside, rain or sunshine, or all the pricking health clips in the the newspapers crying themselves out hoarse about calories,cholestrol, LDL, HDL and the walk- water -diet formula.. Whose bluff are they calling now ! Surely we do all that so that we can partake of a VB special once a while..
All for a price as they say.
The formalities dispensed with, Viji and me trudge back to katte's house near A.P.S College, walking through D.V.G Road and then deciding on whim to go through Bugle Rock..
It's been made beautiful now by ex -Mayor Chandrashekar who revamped the whole Hanumanthanagara Ward and spruced up other places as well during his tenure..
Lush green abides in many places and the air is filled with the sounds of the cricket and the croaking of the frogs and the gay chirping of the many birds that have made this park their home. Works of art have resulted in an impressive display of Karnataka's literary giants
like D.V.G, Da Ra Bendre, Kuvempu, Sir M.V to name few, all of which run around the circumference of the base of the water tank, elucidating the achievements of each, perhaps implicitly goading the onlookers to try and emulate them, or atleast instill a sense of pride that such people once lived in Karnataka and contributed in no small means to its heritage.
Bugle Rock rekindles memories of many a childhood summer, where we caught tadpoles in the ponds and brought them home in small plastic covers filled with water, played hide n seek, where we clambered to the top of a sloping rock and slithered down its smooth surface or simply gathered the cork fallen from trees to pound them and make 'cork' balls for cricket.. Sigh, those were utopian days.. :(
A cool feature is the music system and the many speakers that have been installed around the walkways and other strategic places in the park, not immediately visible, but as you walk by
you notice music wafting out of the ground and take a closer look. We get to hear Michael Bolton crooning "Said I loved you, but I lied, Said I loved you but I was wrong...." Its the local FM station. Better off for the venture, we trudge out of the other gate and go and take to carrom at katte's place.. Ashwath Katte, who wife Kavitha is India No 1 in carrom and whacks us pretty bad in the championship board she has :)
Its been just another day in Paradise, sans the cricket.. No one's complaining, VB filled in the breach and rest assured I would be an ardent Vidyarthi of it .. I am caught in its vice !
