25 years on, tea stall owner serves food for ₹5

Anyone who is hungry should be able to afford a meal here, says Ganesan

Tucked away in a corner of C.P. Ramaswamy Road, Laksmi Tea Stall that has policemen, security personnel and autorickshaw drivers sipping hot tea and munching on masal vadai, suddenly starts buzzing with activity at quarter past twelve. After a long morning, many who skip their breakfast are here to buy their first meal of the day.

Each of them pay ₹5 and buy hot parcels of sambhar rice or curd rice and pickle that arrive fresh from the kitchen.

Inside, 62-year-old M. Ganesan, who runs this tea stall and fast food stall nearby, is wrapping up parcels of sambhar rice and curd rice, in a jiffy, handing them over to his assistants, who take them out for distribution immediately. “I started this tea stall in 1996 and just before that, I saw an old man serving food at a reasonable price for the poor then. I didn’t know him but he inspired me. I started then, and for nearly 25 years now, I have been selling food packets for ₹5,” he says.