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| Saturday, 24 July 2004 |
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'Kottu' Kumara of Kandy by Prasad Abu Bakr The sound of metal clink that is so ever synonymous with 'Kottu Roti' is what has made Kumara a legend after almost twenty six years on the pavement of Yatinuwara Veediya, Kandy. Kandy, going full toss into action celebrating the annual 'Esala Pageant' is otherwise a city that mellows and winds-up long before mid-night. But there is one exception to the known rule of this 'early bird's nest' syndrome of the hill capital and that is Kumara, the man who not only keeps things happening come rain or storm. Feeding the public with his wide variety of foods he has set an example which can be a stepping stone to any young entrepreneur of today seeking to succeed in his business. Chandra Kumara Waduge hails from the southern village of Kosgoda. His arrival in Kandy was mainly for schooling but as he grew up to be a young man Kumara also decided that his bride will also be from this scenic surroundings where he pursued his education. So it was a fulfilment in his young life when he met Leela who was to be his life partner who supported this enterprising young man in achieving all his goals. It was not easy at the beginning when they had to work hard. In fact they still do, but now it is with a sense of fulfilment. It was Leela who always prepared the food at home with most of her family members helping her and now most of them are amongst the staff who permanently work for them. Kumara with the help of another, brought the food to Yatinuwara Veediya where they set the counters up and made their home made food available to the public of Kandy. At the beginning it was more a take-away counter. As they opened for business at around 6.30 p.m. daily most of the office workers going home late made it a habit to buy their dinner from Kumara. There were others like shop staff who closed up late. Gradually the aroma of Kumara and Leela's preparations spread beyond Kandy. The rugby season found Kumara catering to a wider section of Colombo's sport enthusiasts and so did the cricket annual season. The many international cricket matches found not only the spectators but also players, both from the local and visiting teams paying a visit to Kumara's abode to taste a bit of hot stuff. `We did not prepare our food separately with the tourist in mind' says Leela. According to her they made their preparations spicy as to appeal to the local tongue. But this did not deter foreigners from queuing up sometimes well past midnight to taste Kumara's local delights. Amongst the variety of food that Kumara has to offer are Plain Hoppers and Egg Hoppers, Stringhoppers, Pittu and Babath [Tripe], curries ranging from Dhal to Chicken, Mutton and Beef, hot sambol preparations like Coconut and Katta sambol or Maldivefish sambol as accompaniments. There is also 'Ala Tel Dala' [potatoes tempered with onions] and hard boiled eggs also in a tempered onion preparation. But why most people patronise Kumara's 'Night Kaday' is for his ever popular 'Kottu Roti'. Kumara has been conducting his business on Yatinuwara Veediya pavement for the past 26 years and four years ago he started an outlet below his home on Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha, where his wife Leela attends to many customers during the day. This outlet was started because every year as the Esala Perahera period gets going Kumara is compelled to vacate his pavement set-up for at least two weeks owing to the elephants being brought there to be dressed up for the procession every evening. This year he has made arrangements to widen the premises at Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha as to accommodate more customers who wish to sit in and enjoy a meal. Kumara and Leela are proud parents of three grown up sons. Each have excelled in their studies and sport activities and also have attended colleges abroad. It is Kumara's wish that at least one of them will take over this operation of his, which he still keeps under his control looking into maintaining standards of hygiene and taste. Kumara is a simple man always smiling as he attends to each and every customer who turns up to taste his foods. He has toiled hard to keep not only his growing business intact but also made sure that his clientele grew from a small number of Kandyans that patronised him 26 years ago to a long queue of elite from the metropolis peeking over his counter to make their pick today. To whichever son Kumara passes this business over to will be an easy task to carry on from here with the minimum amount of operational hazards. But the difficult part will be to maintain that pleasing smile Kumara flashes on and off at his customers, making it probably one of the reasons for his success. |
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