The Election Commission\u2019s initiative
may make 2009 General Elections one
of the most disabled-friendly process in
the country. But more needs to be done

runa Devi will exercise her franchise this time. The as- sistant coordinator with

Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation will not only voice her opinion on the political party she wants at the centre but also get to \u201ctouch and feel\u201d what an Elec- tronic Voting Machine (EVM) is all about.

\u201cIt is a pleasure to feel what it is like to exercise your democratic right,\u201d says Devi who lost her sight at the age of 18. \u201cLast elec- tion I had my sister accompany- ing me and voting on my behalf. This time, I get the bonus of tak- ing an escort plus going through the names of persons and the party they belong to on the Braille sheet

While some like Aruna Devi are happy to see the step taken by the Election Commissioner, there are many visually challenged persons who are either unaware or think introducing Braille is not a move forward in this technology-driven world.

However, it is for the \ufb01rst time that Braille-facilitated EVMs have been introduced in a massive scale for the general election 2009. In Chennai, Vidya Sagar, an organisation that works with chil- dren with cerebral palsy and spe- cial needs, has been campaigning and sensitising for the last two months on the need to represent the needs of the visually and physically

The Braille-enabled EVMs were on a trial run at its school in Kotturpu- ram on Monday, where a few volunteers patiently waited for people to take a mock test on the

\u201cSince February I have been making representations to intro- duce email, postcard and other friendly measures to enable peo- ple with other disabilities to also vote, but the election of\ufb01cer only had a smile to my question,\u201d says Meenakshi Balasubramanian, as- sistant coordinator, Disability Legislation Unit (South).

Aruna is also of the opinion that Braille is not the only solu- tion for the visually challenged. \u201cSome suffer from colour blind- ness, some with retina disinfec- tion\u2026 just because I learnt the open Braille I am making use of the facility. What about those with partial blindness?\u201d she ques- tions.

Similarly, members from Neth- rodaya, a Chennai-based volun- tary organisation, say they are not going to cast their vote as the sys- tem only addresses people who are born blind. \u201cWe are not against Braille, but how is it ad- dressing those who are adult blind? Audio books/audio soft- ware was a better option that could have been introduced,\u201d says Govinda Krishnan of Neth- rodaya.

Vidya Sagar will have a mock
run of the Braille-enabled EVM
today from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.\u25a0

A history-sheeter who turned a new leaf
was brutally murdered by two men in full
view of the public in Tambaram on Monday

Tambaram police identi\ufb01ed the deceased as
Sivali alias Sivalingam (30) of
Thiruvaloorpuram of Mudichoor Road in
Tambaram. Sivali was named accused in \ufb01ve
murder cases in Tambaram and adjoining
police station limits. He had mended his
ways recently and set up a small shop
selling cold drinks near the Hindu Medical
Mission Hospital along with his wife Baby

On Monday morning, when Sivali and Rani
were at the shop, two unidenti\ufb01ed men
barged in with deadly weapons. Fearing for
his life, Sivali ran but was caught and
attacked by two men just 100 metres away
from the shop. He suffered severe injuries
all over his body and the attackers even
smashed his face with a rock before \ufb02eeing.
He died on the spot, said police.
Police reached the spot and recovered his
body and sent it to Government Royapettah
Hospital for post mortem.
The deceased was an active rowdy in
Tambaram a few months ago but later
became part of a human rights group. An
attempt on his life was made sometime
ago. He had escaped with minor injuries
and was admitted to hospital and released
recently, police added.
A special team has been formed to
apprehend the killers.\u25a0

Aruna Devi gets ready to press the EVM after going through the Braille sheet in hand at a trial session at Vidya Sagar on Monday.PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

~What\u2019s the Braille-enabled EVM? These have the serial
number, name of the candidate and the party he/she belongs,
which the visually challenged person needs to memorise before
pressing the Braille sticker on the EVM.

~ Ramp, Braille sticker on the EVM, Braille-modelled ballot paper
and priority queuing are the facilities introduced for the bene\ufb01t
of the physically challenged.

The Indian Quizzing League (IQL) is organising a summer camp in quiz. The
camp is open to children between 10 and 15 years and will be conducted in
R. A. Puram on weekends starting May 16. To sign-up contact
Patrick-9952994908; Karthik Narayan-9962070090 or Vinod-9962084242.

nce upon a time way back in 1900s, Ramana Bhatt from Udipi came to the

then Madras with a dream to start a new venture in the hos- pitality area. He was the \ufb01rst to sow the seeds of his native del- icacy by opening up Caf\u00e9 de Ma- dras and Udipi Krishna Bhavan at Egmore as he thought this city had a highly intellectual popula- tion with similar food culture.

That is the story for you, in one line, of what is now popularly known as Udipi Home.

Ram Narayan Bhatt, grand son of Ramana, says: \u201cThe basic ground level training in hospital- ity for any Madhava family was well-rooted at a tender age. They were sent to temples to learn the scriptures and were also made to prepare full course meals in form of prasadam and host about 2,000 people. Post the training, my grandfather with a few family savings in hand, came to this city.\u201d

Very soon, he went back and his son Shyamana Bhatt contin- ued the legacy. He was instru- mental in opening up the 3-\ufb02oor Udipi Home with lodging facility in 1950. Passionate about spread- ing the Udipi cuisine in Chennai, Shyamana helped many of his native folks to establish their own restaurants that soon got their own goodwill and identity over the years.

\u201cHe did this without expecting any returns from the owners and hence he is highly respected as a legend and a samaritan in our home town and as a person who brought entrepreneurship among local chefs. My uncle passed away in 1974 and his son Ram Prasad and my father Hari Bhatt, who used to assist him, took over the business. At that same time, the government came up with a norm of selling meals at subsi- dised rates. Hence we kept a low key for a while.\u201d The family also

ran Kalpana restaurant and lodge in Villivakkam for thirty years from 1968 but they gave it off af- ter the lease got over.

The turning point was in 1980, when they renamed their restau- rant from Udipi Krishna Bhavan to Mathsya and gave the ambi- ence a \ufb01ne-dining approach in a fully air-conditioned set up. However the antique attractive door with bells and the wooden carving of Mathsya deity re- mained to give the same warm and divine aura. Bhatt says, \u201cMathsya Shaligram is our family

deity and Mathsya is the \ufb01rst ava- tar of Lord Vishnu. Hence we christened this name for a good beginning.\u201d

And since then there has been non-stop patronage. A cross sec- tion of ardent patrons, including Marwaris, Gujaratis and Punja- bis, continue to treat their taste buds to a multi-cuisine platter \u2013 Punjabi, Chinese and Continen- tal food. They have created a niche for their exotic and tasty Udipi thali for Rs 95 comprising rasam vada, starters like guliappa (seasoned kuyi paniayarm), bun

(banana with yoghurt cooked over a stone), mangalore bonda and main course that has three varities of dosas \u2013 uppu puli, podi dosa, bajjari dosa \u2013 apart from bi- sibela baath, chitranam (varia- tion of puliyatharai with semia n jaggery n coconut) and curd rice.

With growing popularity of their trademark, Shyamana\u2019s son Ram Prasad expanded the family business in Delhi. \u201cAlong with my father, he opened the Bhaja Go- vindam restaurant in Delhi in 1983. We wanted to make an identity of authentic South Indi-

When asked how he stepped into the business, Ram Narayan Bhatt visual arts graduate and a travel lover, has an interesting anecdote to share. \u201cIn mid-1990s, when I was in London, I met up with a millionaire NRI and he was so thrilled to note that I was from the family who owned Udipi Home. I got to know that he was a regular at Mathsya and loved the food there. Such similar incidents kept recurring during my over- seas trips. That\u2019s when I realised, I hold a precious gem back home and from then on there was no looking back.\u201d In 2006, Mathsya branched out to T.Nagar with BR Mathsya. Ram Narayan Bhatt\u2019s brother H.V.Bhatt manages it.

Shyamana\u2019s philosophy was: \u201cSell only that idly that you can give your own six-month old ba- by\u201d. This is evident in the cleanli- ness and discipline in the cooking that has been followed for several decades at the restaurant. Food is available here till 1.30 a.m. \u201cThe food service started for those who were stranded in railway stations during the Chinese war in the wee hours and is still followed now for those who wish to have some light meals after work or clubbing,\u201d says Bhatt, who winds up the restaurant at about 2 am daily.\u25a0

The Bhatt legacy
brought Udipi
food to Chennai
and has been
treating the city
food lovers since
several decades

Udipi and started Cafe de Madras and Udipi Krishna Bhavan (only restaurant)