A huge portrait of the pioneering hotelier M.A.Guruswamy Nadar is ever ready to welcome the visitors to Hotel Thaai in Coimbatore. We learn that the railway station was responsible for creating new ventures and also new locations for older ventures. RHR or Royal Hindu Restaurant was founded around 1931. M.A.Guruswamy Nadar had been responsible for developing this venture and also Royal Theatre. Mahalinga Nadar Ayya Nadar Guruswamy Nadar belonged to Reddiarpatti (Virudhunagar) and had come up just till the middle school. He was well endowed with a practical approach to commerce and life. Guruswamy Nadar sought greener pastures at a very early age. He went to seek his career in the north. Those were times when a set of merchants / traders would work from a common facility. The young aspirant worked in that kind of a facility. Usually, one set of people will work with just a desk with a sloping lid, and a set of drawers. This was their office and business went on. Guruswamy Nadar learnt cookery among other things.
A huge portrait of the pioneering hotelier M.A.Guruswamy Nadar is ever ready to welcome the visitors to Hotel Thaai in Coimbatore. We learn that the railway station was responsible for creating new ventures and also new locations for older ventures. RHR or Royal Hindu Restaurant was founded around 1931.
M.A.Guruswamy Nadar had been responsible for developing this venture and also Royal Theatre. Mahalinga Nadar Ayya Nadar Guruswamy Nadar belonged to Reddiarpatti (Virudhunagar) and had come up just till the middle school. He was well endowed with a practical approach to commerce and life. Guruswamy Nadar sought greener pastures at a very early age. He went to seek his career in the north. Those were times when a set of merchants / traders would work from a common facility.
The young aspirant worked in that kind of a facility. Usually, one set of people will work with just a desk with a sloping lid, and a set of drawers. This was their office and business went on. Guruswamy Nadar learnt cookery among other things.
Work was tight and Guruswamy would just have a 20 day break each year. This was during his bachelor days. Later, he got married to Chinnathayammal. This happened during his work in the north and therefore the wife stayed back in Virudhunagar. Guruswamy Nadar decided to move into Coimbatore, a burgeoning textile city thereafter. He got into the food business. The venture was located on Variety Hall Road and was known as Royal Hindu Restaurant. It served vegetarian food. The railway station was accessed from Variety Hall Road and it made sense to do business in that part of the city for it was a happening place.
Meanwhile Guruswamy Nadar had adopted Melakottai Veerasinnammal as his family deity based on a wish prayer. The young couple were blessed with a daughter and four sons - Sundaravel, Shanmughavel, Manickavel and Ratnavel. Guruswamy Nadar was deeply devoted to Lord Muruga and would be at Marudamalai on each and every Kiruthigai (an important day for this deity). A large garland would be offered at Marudamalai. Guruswamy Nadar used to visit the Shirdi Sai Temple before entering RHR on Kiruthigai. He would also pray at the Kottai Sangameswarar and Kottai Perumal Temples. The hotelier had contributed towards the Thiruppani of the Kottai Sangameswarar Temple also.
Royal Hindu Restaurant (RHR) on Imperial Bank Road / Railway Station Road was set up on the property belonging to Vijayaraghava Iyengar a relative of C.V.Bhashyam Iyengar. It had moved over to this side of town after the station changed its main entrance. The inauguration was on 24/11/1939 and the Superstar of Tamil cinema M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar (MKT) was a special guest on the occasion. The silver cup presented by the first Superstar of Tamil cinema MKT on the occasion of the shifting of location is well preserved by the RHR family.
People getting in and out of the train would eat at RHR. The fare was idli, dosa, sambar, vadai and poori. Poori was really special then and it was lined up on a showcase. It was a star attraction. Pooris were taken from the showcase and served ! It was found in the company of jalebi, badam halwa, laddoo and other items. RHR was the earliest to serve Masaladosa and chappatis in Coimbatore. Many years later Prof Abdul Ghaffoor (English) of PSG Arts used to state that they would come all the way from Singanallur on a bullock cart in order to eat chappati and koottu.
"Father was known for hard work and smart work. There was a good growth and coffee used to cost 1 Anna while lunch was just 6 Annas (16 Annas made a Rupee).People used to hesitatingly ask if there was change for 1 Rupee before settling down to eat! The shop would open by 5:30 AM and a couple of people would be found waiting for coffee already. Father and the rest of us stayed in the RHR campus itself. He was a well connected person and was a great visionary. He knew all the greats of the city. They included people like Diwan Bahadur C.V.Venkataramana Iyengar, his son C.V.Bhasyam Iyengar, Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar, Dr.R.K.Shanmukham Chetty, P.A.Raju Chettiar and G.N.Sam. RHR served breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, coffee and the snacks consisted of vadai, pakkoda, bajji, mixture etc., People used to ask for karaboondhi and Ompodi separately. We offered the sweet Mukmulpoori to our guests. It was nothing but left over Mysorepak powder stuffed in pooris. This was served with sweet jeera. People liked it," stated G.Ratnavel, the youngest son of M.A.Guruswamy Nadar.
Subadhra Ranganathan of Salem used to visit her sister Lalitha Bai of Coimbatore quite often. She would first relish something in RHR before beginning her visit to the residence of her sister. There were many like her who liked Royal Hindu Restaurant (RHR).
RHR was among the pioneer with regard to ' room amenities '. It offered a room with a cot and fan for Rs.1.50. It was Rs.1 minus for a room without a fan. The separate bathing facility would charge 4 Annas for a bath. There was a boiler for hot water. M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and NSK (N.S.Krishnan) used to stay at RHR. A number of actors visiting the Central Studios and other studios were among the early clients. There was a laundry too. Royal Pakku Thool was one more venture and Guruswamy Nadar owned some taxis, Royal Theatre and one more theatre at Chinnalapatti. He had wanted to start a spinning mill and also a bus service. The entrepreneur had even run a military canteen for sometime.
M.A.Guruswamy Nadar passed away young and his wife Chinnathayammal had to take over from there. She was the matriarch from 1951 to 1998. The hard working matriarch ensured that nothing was wasted. Even the cow dung was made into patties and sold. All the purchases were done by her. She would heap the shed with grains. It was processed by her for the restaurant. "Mother was like a General and she kept us together. She would look after all the cows. The ' thenna mattais ' in the theatre were made into broomsticks under her direction. Father was a great man. He put me, the youngest in the famous Stanes School. My brorther Sundaravel was an affectionate man and he let me do things on my own. After finishing my Anglo Indian Board Exams, I had a six month holiday. Could go to college only in June and brother gave me permission to develop business from the cinema side. He would take me everywhere with him. I used to go for all the 100 th day celebrations of movies because of my eldest brother Sundaravel. It was possible to meet all important people at Chennai because of him. Brother was a fine person and had many good qualities. He gave me the freedom to work," remembered G.Ratnavel.
The RHR family had a great friendship with M.G.Ramachandran and later Sivaji Ganesan. "MGR used to love the karuvaattu kuzhambhu made by mother and he would keep the entire container next to him while eating. He used to visit us and we would also visit him during our trips to Chennai. All the family marriages were shot on 35mm film and it was a novelty. Mother brought in the best for the family weddings. All the reception concerts were outstanding - M.L.Vasanthakumari for eldest brother Sundaravel, T.M.Soundarararajan for Shanmughavel, Flute Mali for Manickavel and Madurai Mani Iyer for my wedding," smiled G.Ratnavel.
The foundation laid by M.A.Guruswamy Nadar and his wife Chinnathayammal has helped RHR (Royal Hindu Restaurant) to grow along with their family.