Ayyars Cafe In Varanasi

Having started our explorations of the ghats of Varanasi before sunrise on a cold winter morning, our hunger pangs were reaching a crescendo when a shopkeeper pointed us to Ayyars cafe, located in a small alcove on the main Dasashwamedh Ghat Road. Pleasantly surprised to find a restaurant serving South Indian food in the heart of the North, we ordered our upma and idli and struck up a conversation with the genial old man at the counter with the quintessentially Indian question: "Where are you originally from?" His eyes brightened and face warmed as he looked up and said..."Kerala, but I was born in Benaras". The food arrived and and as we tucked into the delicious dishes and ordered more dosas and real filter coffee, he regaled us with the history of how his grandfather moved from Palghat to Mumbai and then to Varanasi many decades ago and established an outpost for South Indian food. We also learnt that the man serving us tea not only ran the restaurant but was an accomplished practitioner of yoga, who was also the director of a yoga institute in his prime. Now retired, his son Balaram runs the restaurant, his other children are settled in Varanasi and other parts of India and he spends his time practicing yoga and supervising the restaurant in the mornings. We left the restaurant  after an amazing breakfast, a complimentary copy of a book on Yoga and fond memories of S. Balakrishnan Iyer, the proud owner of Ayyars Cafe in Varanasi...

Comments

[raju narang]

.sir......great to see u enjoying the food n your country.......make the best of it...when u eat, i get fat.......when u roam , i become peaceful....ur childhood buddy....i guess , i still am..love to all..raju plot no 160..love ur visits.,..i tooo travel looking at ur snaps and ur coments....seepaisa vasool , with no spending....

[Vishy]

Hey Soumya - very neat travel blog. Bahut time waste karaoge?