Anna in the mess!

The Chemical Company, where Muser worked, was situated in a hilly terrain (a la Kerala). Chlor-alkali and Aluminum metal producing factories along with a hydro electric power plant were also functioning in nearby vicinity. It was a small industrial town with meager dining facilities (older version of present day Dhabas) .The exception was Velu’s hotel. The fare was tasty; the family was sympathetic to us ‘the bachelors’. For most of us it was a home away from home. One had to walk nearly 2 kilometers and trek back to dine at Velu’s. This was the only inconvenience. During summer, going for lunch was like a trip to hell.

Considering our plight, the management decided and constructed a mess hall with a furnished kitchen. This was handed over to a committee elected from among the hostel inmates. A general body meeting was called to lay down laws and bylaws. It was decided that the fare would be unlimited and on sharing basis. A hostel inmate leaving on long-off would be permitted to avail the facility as guest (separate rates are applicable) but should intimate the MMC the day before the long-off starts.

The MMC (Mess Management Committee) selected two cooks and one canteen boy and started the services on an auspicious day. 

Here a mention has to be made about our special character – Mr.Sundararajan. He was well built but with a touch of obesity. A folded kerchief, inserted between the nape of his neck and shirt collar was his “trade mark” way of dressing. Off duty hours he liked to wear a dhoti and disliked lunghi’s, preferred by the other hostelites. The difference in dressing and his conduct made the others to bond with Sundararajan, as their elder brother. Then he came to be known popularly as Anna.

He was a trencherman and did justice to the menu placed in front of him. His ravenous hunger and doing appropriate justice became a concern to the MMC. It was a case of someone eating but others paying a percentage of the bill!

Sundararajan somehow struck a sympathetic cord (his face was tailor made to evoke these emotions in anyone’s heart) with the cooks and canteen boy. Like a well oiled machine Mr.Sundararajan was enjoying the feast and began to put on additional weight. His modus operandi was to arrive late for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, so that none of us would be around.

All good things has to come to an. That day arrived for Anna, in the trio form (Muser, Avudaiappan and Ananth). The trio had just completed double shift duty and from a distance, saw the canteen boy asking something and Sundararajan gesticulating by hand signal. He had placed his thumb and index finger of the left hand, parallel to each other about 2 ½ to 3 inches apart.

After about five minutes in came a plate of oil-less plain dosas, stacked to a height of 3 inches. This was a revelation to us. Bush telegraph started to work over time and in no time all the hostel inmates came to know the cause for inflated monthly bills. What was happening was that, the cooks and canteen boy were also feeding themselves sumptuously, throughout the day.

The trio put up a placard at the entrance of the hostel block – “Sundararaja Anna in the mess; we are also in the same!”

This agitation led to another convened meeting of the MMC. It was unanimously decided to sack the cooking staff and close down the mess.  The tasty fare and the sympathetic family of Velu’s once again became the favorite eatery, for us. All in all, it resulted in a healthy turn of events, as Anna started to look like himself (before the advent of MMC), maybe owing to the walk or the limited fare at Velu’s :).