KOZHIKODE: Mukkam Vijayan, who has been running a canteen at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (formerly REC) for 43 years, will cross another landmark in his long innings.
He will be serving food to the irrepresible Robin Singh, speedster Waqar Yuonis and the cool customer Mohammad Azharudeen when the teams descend on the city for the India-Pak veterans cricket match scheduled to be held on February 25.
Vijayan, 68, who has been running the NIT-C canteen right from the beginning has now become a favourite caterer for the city-dwellers.
It was in 1965 that Dr M V Kesavarao, principal of Regional Engineering College, asked whether he could run the canteen. Vijayan was selected after stiff competition from Unni Nair from Andhra University.
‘‘When the principal asked at what cost could I serve tea, I said 10 paise. That was the turning point in my life, as he was expecting an answer around 15 paise per tea,’’ said Vijayan. He began with a small vegetarian canteen, which gradually developed to meet the demands of students across the country.
‘‘Students requested the then Chief Minister R Sankar, who was the chairman of the governing body of REC, to set up a non-vegetarian section of canteen. Then we started non-vegetarian section, for which another small area was granted at a rent of Rs 1 per month.’’
He left the canteen for a small period when the governing body moved to call for a tender to run the canteen. ‘‘I started a hotel named Shalimar, near Radha theatre, which is now a portion of Arya Bhavan. Surprisingly, students and staff called me back, after the contractor downed the canteen shutter,’’ he said.
The name Mukkam Vijayan has a story to tell. In 1970, the then superstars in Mollywood Madhu, K P Ummer and Adoor Bhasi came down to Mukkam for the film ‘Nadan Premam’. Vijayan became all-in-all of the set in no time.
‘‘Later, they preferred to call me Mukkam Vijayan. I accompanied film stars like Jayan, Soman and Mohanlal in the sets of films including Sangamam, Abhinayam, Angadi and Artham.’’
Perhaps, Vijayan would be the only one left in the college who heard the melodious and feeble voice of Rajan, who was taken into custody by police during Emergency.
‘‘I will never forget those terror days. Rajan was one of the best singer in the college during those days. I still remember a police sniffer dog rushing to the canteen in search of Rajan. I was scared, as the entire campus was kept under surveillance,’’ he said.
Besides running NIT-C canteen, he has the history of running canteens of Providence College, Farook College, IIM-K and Guruvayurappan College.
Interestingly, he still maintains the small canteen which serves the students of NIT-C till 2 am.
Technorati Tags: NITC
He will be serving food to the irrepresible Robin Singh, speedster Waqar Yuonis and the cool customer Mohammad Azharudeen when the teams descend on the city for the India-Pak veterans cricket match scheduled to be held on February 25.
Vijayan, 68, who has been running the NIT-C canteen right from the beginning has now become a favourite caterer for the city-dwellers.
It was in 1965 that Dr M V Kesavarao, principal of Regional Engineering College, asked whether he could run the canteen. Vijayan was selected after stiff competition from Unni Nair from Andhra University.
‘‘When the principal asked at what cost could I serve tea, I said 10 paise. That was the turning point in my life, as he was expecting an answer around 15 paise per tea,’’ said Vijayan. He began with a small vegetarian canteen, which gradually developed to meet the demands of students across the country.
‘‘Students requested the then Chief Minister R Sankar, who was the chairman of the governing body of REC, to set up a non-vegetarian section of canteen. Then we started non-vegetarian section, for which another small area was granted at a rent of Rs 1 per month.’’
He left the canteen for a small period when the governing body moved to call for a tender to run the canteen. ‘‘I started a hotel named Shalimar, near Radha theatre, which is now a portion of Arya Bhavan. Surprisingly, students and staff called me back, after the contractor downed the canteen shutter,’’ he said.
The name Mukkam Vijayan has a story to tell. In 1970, the then superstars in Mollywood Madhu, K P Ummer and Adoor Bhasi came down to Mukkam for the film ‘Nadan Premam’. Vijayan became all-in-all of the set in no time.
‘‘Later, they preferred to call me Mukkam Vijayan. I accompanied film stars like Jayan, Soman and Mohanlal in the sets of films including Sangamam, Abhinayam, Angadi and Artham.’’
Perhaps, Vijayan would be the only one left in the college who heard the melodious and feeble voice of Rajan, who was taken into custody by police during Emergency.
‘‘I will never forget those terror days. Rajan was one of the best singer in the college during those days. I still remember a police sniffer dog rushing to the canteen in search of Rajan. I was scared, as the entire campus was kept under surveillance,’’ he said.
Besides running NIT-C canteen, he has the history of running canteens of Providence College, Farook College, IIM-K and Guruvayurappan College.
Interestingly, he still maintains the small canteen which serves the students of NIT-C till 2 am.
Technorati Tags: NITC
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