I am going to build the McDonald’s of India!”
The business bug bit Eshwar K. Vikas fresh out of college. He started Mukunda, a restaurant serving idli and dosa at a mall in Chennai, borrowing from his parents and friends to rent the space and set up a self-service model with large screens and LED lighting. He bought the batter from someone else and set about with his ‘McDosa’ dreams.
“Business was good from day one,” Eshwar recalled. So much so that he committed the blunder of his career—a second outlet on a franchisee model through a friend. “That was when I realised we were not able to maintain the consistency of the batter,” he said. To add to his woes, the ‘dosa master’, the guy in the kitchen, left. Customers stopped coming back, complaining that the quality had gone down.
An engineer, Eshwar wanted to solve the issue by getting a machine that can make dosas uniformly. The problem? There wasn’t one.
He did not give up. He refashioned an Archimedes screw, used to pump concrete mix in construction, into a pump for dosa batter. A person was assigned to design and make a tawa (wok) for the machine. And presto, Eshwar had pivoted from running a ‘manual’ restaurant into an automated kitchen.
Denne historien er fra September 11, 2022-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra September 11, 2022-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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A golden girl
One of India's most formidable beauties passed away earlier this month. The odd thing is she would absolutely hate this obituary; she hated being written about and avoided publicity for all of her nine decades. Indira Aswani was 93 when she died. But anyone who encountered her, even briefly, was in such awe of her grace and poise, and one could not but remember her forever.
The interest in wine is growing delightfully in India
The renowned British wine writer and television presenter Jancis Robinson, 74, recently came to Delhi and Mumbai to reacquaint herself with India's wine industry. This was the Robinson's fourth visit to India; the last one was seven years ago. On this trip, Robinson and her husband, restaurateur Nicholas Lander, were hosted by the Taj Hotels and Sonal Holland, India's only Master of Wine.
United in the states
Indian-Americans coming together under the Democratic umbrella could get Harris over the line in key battlegrounds
COVER DRIVE
Usage-driven motor insurance policies offer several benefits
GDP as the only measure of progress is illogical
Dasho Karma Ura, one of the world's leading happiness experts, has guided Bhutan's unique gross national happiness (GNH) project. He uses empirical data to show that money cannot buy happiness in all circumstances, rather it is family and health that have the strongest positive effect on happiness. Excerpts from an interview:
India is not a controlling big brother
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay considers India a benevolent elder sibling as the \"big brotherly attitude\" is happily missing from bilateral ties. He thinks the relationship shared by the two countries has become a model of friendship not just for the region, but for the entire world. \"India's attitude is definitely not of a big brother who is controlling and does not allow the little brother to blossom and grow,\" says Tobgay in an exclusive interview with THE WEEK.
Comrade with no foes
Lal Salaam, Comrade Yechury-you were quite a guy!
Pinning down saffron
In her first political bout, Vinesh Phogat rides on the anti-BJP sentiment across Haryana
MAKE IN MANIPUR
Home-made rockets and weapons from across the border are escalating the conflict
SAHEB LOSES STEAM
Coalition dynamics and poor electoral prospects continue to diminish Ajit Pawar's political stock
