Chennai

In a plush, tree-lined bylane of Alwarpet, in a neighbourhood accustomed to buttery croissants and French- pressed coffee, sits a little corner mess where you can have unlimited portions of rice, dried fish sambal, meen kuzhambu, chicken curry, rasam, sambar, kootu and poriyal for just ₹160. At lunch on a heat-stricken weekday, all five tables under a quietly humming AC are full. “It is heartening to see walk-ins from every demographic: from security guards to executives in huge SUVs,” says 30-year-old Vikram Reddy, one of the four entrepreneurs behind Kaaram Karaikudi Mess. He pauses mid-conversation to bid adieu to an elderly guest with a cane, being helped out gently by a young companion — the duo has been a regular ever since the two-week-old restaurant opened. Repeat customers — and the patronage of established chefs and some celebrities — are Vikram’s proof that he was right in his basic business premise: “Everyone misses simple traditional food, and wants to eat it in … [Read more...] about Chennai’s young restaurateurs celebrate street food and home-style meals

Just before her bout, when Nivedha Srinivasan saw her Greek opponent, Barmpouti Androniki, do a full split on the floor, it gave her the chills. “I was scared. I saw how flexible she is. I can’t do a full split,” says Nivedha over a call from Istanbul where she has just won a silver in the Light Contact category and bronze in Kick Light category at the WAKO Seventh International Turkish Open Kickboxing World Cup — 2022. The 14-year-old from Chennai is the only girl from India to win medals at the recently-concluded event. A gold was what she wanted. All her focus was on winning. In fact, so much that when the Indian contingent went out to explore the charming city of Istanbul, Nivedha chose to stay back at the hotel and prepare. Nivedha with Suresh Babu, coach and founder of Spitfire Kickboxing Academy | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement At the finals of the Light Contact category, Nivedha says her opponent scored three points without even letting her feet touch the floor. … [Read more...] about Bruised yet upbeat: Chennai-based Nivedha Srinivasan recently won two medals at the Kickboxing World Cup in Turkey