I hail from the
Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh and within the district, while Machilipatnam
has been the district Head Quarters or the capital, it is Vijayawada which has
been more famous.
Though my
parents ‘migrated’ to Madras, now Chennai of Tamil Nadu, some 6 decades ago, I have been visiting
Vijayawada on and off, for meeting relatives or on business work and so on. My
initial visits, in my earlier childhood, are not much worth mentioning excepting for some good personal memories.
However, in the
past few years, I am awe struck every time I visit Vijayawada. Last week I was
in Vijayawada for a day, to fulfill the obsequies of my recently deceased beloved father
and noticed some interesting developments of Vijayawada. The roads are so good
and clean that they are comparable to those in many developed countries. However, that
the population cramming continues to happen is due to the national phenomenon. But
thankfully, some of the old traditional remnants of Vijayawada like the small
lanes which are tight even for a motor-cycle to pass through, like this one in
Durgapuram, continue to exist.
A lane in Durgapuram, where even a motor-cycle needs to go in carefully.
In the afternoon, when my cousin took us out for lunch, I was in for more discoveries.
We went to a restaurant called ‘Sree Ramayya Mess, Caterers & Idly’ which looked to me like an out-patient (OP) ward in a hospital. My cousin reassured me that despite the looks of the restaurant, the taste of the food is great and can easily be the best in the town. The idly part of the name is apparently because throughout the day and night while the facility is open, idly is available there, he added.
Sree Ramayya Mess, Caterers & Idly
The waiting hall in the restaurant with clear indications of prices of meals
There are rooms
with indications of prices for meals that start with Rs.100 for a simple meal
to a Rs.200 for a gorgeous meal that includes rotis, a bottle of mineral water,
sweets, curd and paan and what not. Once you choose which meal you wish to have
or can afford, you go into that hall and appropriately offered meals would be served accordingly. No
question of wasting time in checking any menu etc. The whole thing was working on factory precision. We chose the simple meal hall and after tasting the
food, I had to doubt the taste of my cousin; as excepting the Gherkin Chutney, which was unusual and I liked it a lot, nothing
else was out of the world and not even earthly.
Then in the
evening, we were going to the airport and the road to the airport was quite
green and impressive. There is no comparison to the airport that I saw in November
2015 and what I saw now in July 2017. Though it is still petite, the airport is
more slick and savvy.
Vijayawada Airport in November, 2015
Departure Foyer of Vijayawada Airport in November, 2015
Departure foyer of Vijayawada Airport as found in July 2017
But what
impressed me was the business savvy of a coffee kiosk within the departure
foyer of the Vijayawada airport. After a few minutes of waiting in the chairs
of the foyer, this girl with a genial smile on her face approached each and
every waiting person and asked whether they would like to have coffee or tea or
flavoured milk or even varieties of soups. We came early to the airport and to
kill some time we had ordered for coffee. Within a few minutes, piping hot
coffee was served at our seats. The taste and hygiene was fine and I found the price to be
quite reasonable too.
An hour or so
later, we found our flight being delayed by a couple of hours and found ourselves ordering a cup of soup each with the same girl. Again good and piping hot soup was served.
I was clearly
intrigued and so sauntered to the kiosk to inquire on what prompted them to
offer this service. There I met Mr. Manne Venkata Lakshmoji, whose brain child
was this proactive idea. He said that instead of waiting for the customers to
come to his kiosk, lugging their luggage, by offering them the services at
the convenience of not leaving their place or luggage, he ensures more business by enticing with both quality and convenience. Not
only that; when he approaches the customers, they have only one choice - his
offerings. But if the customers get up and walk, they may be distracted by other attractions and eventually get more choices from the
other kiosks as well and thus there will be competition and business loss.
Coffee Hub and its crew!
Mr. Manne Venkata Lakshmoji, who owns the hub and the idea of taking service to the waiting people in the airport
I have been
flying since mid-1980s and in several countries too. But what I experienced in
the Vijayawada airport has been unique and pioneering. I am yet to come across this type of
service, in any of the airports that I have visited so far.
Once we checked
in and went inside the airport, after security checks, we found Hotel Fortune Murali
Park was also offering snacks in a similar mode – served at our seats.
Presently in the
outer foyer, Mr. Manne seems to be holding the fort but it would only be a
matter of time when competition catches up and he would need to think, inventively,
again.
But till that
time, let us congratulate Mr. Manne for his pioneering work and wish him good luck!
Well, folks, what say you? Do let me know,
please!
Till then,
Krutagjnatalu (Telugu), Nanri (Tamil),
Dhanyavaadagalu (Kannada), Nanni (Malayalam), Dhanyavaad (Hindi), Dhanyosmi
(Sanskrit), Thanks (English), Dhonyavaad (Bangla), Dhanyabad (Oriya and
Nepalese), Gracias (Spanish), Grazie (Italian), Danke Schon (Deutsche), Merci
(French), Obrigado (Portuguese), Shukraan (Arabic and Sudanese), Shukriya
(Urdu), Sthoothiy (Sinhalese) Aw-koon (Khmer), Kawp Jai Lhai Lhai (Laotian),
Kob Kun Krab (Thai), Asante (Kiswahili), Maraming Salamat sa Lahat
(Pinoy-Tagalog-Filipino), Tack (Swedish), Fa'afetai
(Samoan), Terima Kasih (Bahasa Indonesian) and Tenkyu (Tok Pisin of Papua New
Guinea), Malo (Tongan), Vinaka Vaka Levu (Fijian),
Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy
Chennai, India
