THE UDIPI LEGEND

The famous phrase ‘Udipi Hotels’ has come from the temple town of Udipi in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. But, the dynamic men, who run these famous signature hotels all over the world, are not necessarily from Udipi. Nor are they from its cousin-city, Mangalore… No, not necessarily. You talk to these men and they will tell you that they come from the interior villages around Mangalore and Udipi… Yes, small, simple villages.

Probe these men a little further, and you will be surprised as to how similar their stories are: almost all of them had begun from scratch. When they were small boys, someone – an Hotelier from Mumbai or similar big city – had picked them up from their villages and brought them to the big cities to serve water or clean tables. Lucky ones might start directly as waiters… but, rarely someone would start as a cashier… Leave alone as a manager. The small boys soon become big boys… they work so hard, so loyally and with such focus that, invariably, all of them graduate into waiters, supervisors, cashiers and managers… Most of them live under tough situations… save money, nurse their dreams, harbor hopes… and, eventually, most of them end up starting a hotel of their own!

Believe me, this is the inspiring Udipi legend! If you don’t believe this, go and check with these guys who run your favorite food-joints… If the guy happens to be from a second, third or fourth generation… ask him how it all had started. Then, ask him about the small boys who serve water and clean tables in their hotels, now… “Will they be on their own, one day?” ask them. “They will,” you will be told, with loads of pride!

“Why alone Udipi,” you may argue with me, “any enterprise, for that matter, has a similar legend behind it.” To that, I have only this to say: No one does it the way these ‘Udipi’ men do… I mean the business of starting and running the restaurants. There is something special about them - a special dream, a special grit, a special commitment, focus and passion. Else, the legend wouldn’t have endured so long… wouldn’t have inspired us this long!

Today was the last class for a batch of my students. I had found them, all through the year, very focused and committed. So, today, before I sent them off, I wanted to say something to charge them up.  

 “You need to dream… A big dream 

in a small way,” I told them, 

“In life, anything you do with complete focus, 

dedication and passion has to succeed.” 

Then, unwittingly, I gave them example of the famous ‘Udipi Legend’…

And, I knew it would help them go into the world, all charged up… Yes, with a case study which a Harvard Business School would never be able to give them as an assignment…

Yes, the legend has it that…

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.:.Girish Gupta