A busy day in college, the stress of submissions hovering over our heads, some extrinsic motivation was all I needed. This mutual stress that we all had got a conversation brewing between my friend and me. More than motivation, I needed food. But alas, I’d discovered all the eateries around college, or so I thought. This was when my friend told me about her favourite place to hang out around the campus- an old hotel - 'Shyvan.' At first glance, it looked like an old rustic building, but it still had a majestic essence that one couldn’t ignore. I told my friend that I had seen this restaurant before, it was around the campus vicinity for ages. My family and I have our roots connected to the college and the area around, my older sibling studied here too.
Without much contemplation, my friend and I walked into the restaurant and ordered a meal and some juice to go along with it. I sat there feeling nostalgic, reminiscing the times I’d passed by this restaurant as a little schoolgirl. The nostalgia reminded me of my childhood, it persuaded me to strike up a conversation with a man with a smile so kind, seated behind the cash counter. Upon my introduction, he said his name was Vijayan, and he spent a huge part of his life in Thalassery.
In Vijayan’s words, his talents laid mostly in business, he was 20 when he discovered this. Some of us take a whole lifetime to figure out what we’re interested in, whereas others discover their true passion much earlier. This self-assuring attitude makes them more focused and helps them develop the skills needed to work towards their business venture.
“Shyvan” is Vijayan’s second business venture, his first was a fruit juice shop in Yeshwantpur. The experience he got from his first venture helped give him the courage to plan something bigger. As a strong devotee of Lord Shiva, he named his second venture with the name of his favourite God. He was apprehensive at first, but according to him, he knew that Lord Shiva would help him in the future. As you walk into the restaurant, his devotion to Lord Shiva can be seen behind his cash counter, with idols and posters of the god adorning the walls.
But the irony of it all lies in the fact that despite the restaurant being named after lord Shiva, it still continues to serve non-vegetarian food. Talking about his personal choices, Vijayan said, “We serve non-vegetarian dishes more in our restaurant. From the time the restaurant was set up, we maintained a menu serving the cosmopolitan mood of Bangalore. Even though my roots are from Kerala, my regular customers belong to different cultures. What draws them to our restaurant is the food we serve, we use custom-made masalas, and more importantly, we don't add artificial food colours and preservatives. We have customers who have visited the restaurant from the day it first began.”
Vijayan added that the food which they served was authentic and that the customers had immense trust towards Shyvan. The man himself is an example of a businessman who continues to prove to the world that what is sustainable in the long run are the values of trust and dedication. Despite his successful business, he said he doesn’t take holidays whenever he wishes to, instead he opens his restaurant at 11 am every day and closes it at 11 pm. This has been his routine for the last 32 years.
Today, technology has changed the face of his business, but that doesn’t stop Vijayan. He always tries to be at the top of his game. When he realised that food delivery apps were slowly becoming the new norm, he immediately collaborated with them. Consistent hard work, research, courage, and flexibility are the qualities that helped Vijayan carry his business for the last few decades. Vijayan’s son recently joined him in his business. Vijayan has created a legacy that will be carried on for quite some time in the future. Check out some other famous restaurants in Bangalore before your next outing.
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