<p><img style="float: left;" title="Fiona Fernandez" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/Fiona-pic-op_e.jpg" alt="Fiona Fernandez" width="150" height="89" />A community that eats together&hellip;</p>
<p>I am yet to find a suitably relatable second half to this statement, especially in recent times, given the dearth and the phasing out of such community-inspired <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/lessons-for-life-from-the-resting-place-of-the-dead-23463727" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">eateries</a> that were once the heart and soul of our city. However, I am aware that in today&rsquo;s day and age, this adage is getting as obsolete as finding the perfect sambar that accompanies the dosa.</p>
<p>Last Sunday, after ages, I returned to my favourite Udipi in <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/maharashtra-chief-minister-devendra-fadnavis-reopens-bhau-daji-lad-museum-after-four-years-23461398" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Mulund</a>, Vishwabharati, to savour their famed medu vada-sambar [their sambar is spot-on]. I took a moment to scan the main dining hall as I waited for the piping-hot delights of fried joy to arrive. All the tables were occupied: It looked like a happy place where families, friends, students, and senior citizens came with the serious intent of enjoying plates filled with tasty, authentic Udipi fare, and the no-nonsense service and no-frills ambiance didn&rsquo;t matter. No Instagram-crazy folks. No reel-making. No selfies. At least, on paper it seemed unaffected by the vagaries of time. Sadly, the truth, as I was reminded of, while tucking into the vadas [one of the best versions in Mumbai, trust me], was far from it.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;ve been a regular at this eating house since I was a kid, courtesy my parents who would head here for breakfast every Sunday after morning mass. They would pick between this eatery and its sister concern, <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai-guide/things-to-do/article/this-is-fiction-born-out-of-reality-murzban-f-shroff-on-his-new-book-muses-over-mumbai-23458942" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Vishwa Mahal</a>, which was a stone&rsquo;s throw away. Both haunts had their loyal patrons who would swear by its menus. In fact, I recall folks sparring over which place made crispier dosas, or whose filter kaapi was better! &nbsp;Both were large spaces that boasted air-conditioned sections meant for relaxed family lunches and dinners. We rarely looked for options beyond these two in those uncomplicated, analogue times, unless the urge to indulge in non-veggie fare emerged. Located opposite entry points to the railway station, both eateries fed the community that resided in the suburb, and beyond, too. If a familiar face was spotted, smiles or waves were exchanged; well-meaning, efficient waiting staff and the owners knew the regulars on a first name basis.</p>
<p>It was my first and most impressionable experience of a community eating house. In fact, while writing a feature for this newspaper in 2011, its late owner Sudhakar Shetty told me how his father, Jagannath, a <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/inconvenience-is-regretted-really-23459300" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">Mazgaon resident</a>, took a leap of faith to open Vishwabharati in the late 1950s, when it didn&rsquo;t have even a proper road network and most of the suburb was a jungle. When the time came to name this new eatery, Sudhakar&rsquo;s mother, a keen follower of Rabindranath Tagore&rsquo;s writings and poetry suggested the name after Tagore&rsquo;s centre for the arts in West Bengal. &nbsp;</p>
<p>I sensed that things were in the process of turning a corner when Vishwa Mahal was sold to a popular fast food chain a few decades ago. Today, the same building that housed it has gone into redevelopment. Vishwabharati used to be a 7 am to 11 pm-kind of establishment. But over the years, I noticed how their working hours shrunk. &ldquo;Staff issue, madam,&rdquo; rued the senior staffer in his broken English, as I paid the bill. He was doubling up as restaurant manager and was manning the counter.</p>
<p>Nowadays, their working hours are from 7 am to 7 pm. Even the upper level air-conditioned section has been shut for a while, and the menu is a shrunken version of those glory days. While we slurped the last drops of sambar, and waited for the filter kaapi to arrive, a sense of dread crept in, aided by the visible neglect, from its worn-out furniture to paint-deprived walls, and of course, fewer staff. How long will &lsquo;VB&rsquo;s&rsquo; [It&rsquo;s how we as school goers would call it to add a sense of coolth] survive to stave off the real estate boom that is knocking on its doorstep? What will become of this community space&mdash;Mulund oldest surviving Udipi&mdash;whose every inch was filled with a million memories with family and childhood friends? What will happen to those now-aging staffers? Will it spell the end of community-eating in the suburb, and with it a slice of the suburb&rsquo;s culinary heritage?</p>
<p>As I soaked in the buzz on my way out, I secretly wished that a benevolent Mulundkar would swoop in to save the space, and resurrect it to its former glory. Of late, I&rsquo;ve noticed the mushrooming of faux versions of Udipis across the suburb, where authentic and fusion mean the same.<br />With hindsight, I feel, a community that eats together must support each other. There... I&rsquo;ve found the ending. Secretly I hold on to the hope that this iconic eatery is preserved, and will continue to thrive as a culinary jewel of our suburb. Anybody listening?</p>
<p><strong><em>mid-day&rsquo;s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city&rsquo;s sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com</em></strong></p><p>
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Barring a few exceptions in certain neighbourhoods, the reducing popularity, leading to the phasing out of community-driven eateries, means that the coming

Kaapi that!

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Barring a few exceptions in certain neighbourhoods, the reducing popularity, leading to the phasing out of community-driven eateries, means that the coming generations will be deprived of experiencing the worth of these mini universes of culinary riches

Kaapi that!

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Kaapi that!

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