BENGALURU: Its fluffy idlis and chutney were favourites with Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone. So, when Veena Stores in Bengaluru’s Malleswaram announced the death of its founder, SD Suryanarayana Hegde, on Instagram earlier this week, Padukone was among those who paid her respects online.In a city where idlis and vadas are staples, Hegde still managed to turn his store into an institution. Students from nearby schools and colleges, families, daily-wage workers, delivery partners, old residents and NRIs have all returned to Veena Stores for breakfast, making a visit there almost a ritual.Hegde, who passed away at 87, started with a small condiment and coffee-tea store on Margosa Road in 1977, after his hotel had to be sold because of financial troubles. He named the new venture after his daughter, Veena.When the store first opened, coffee, tea, badam milk and condiments were its primary offerings, while idli was almost a sideshow. Over the years, however, the idli — accompanied by generous helpings of chutney doled out from a bucket — became the star.Today, Veena Stores has expanded, but the original hole-in-the-wall outlet remains etched in memory. “My home was just behind Veena Stores and my father and Hegde were friends. I used to call it thatha’s (grandfather’s) shop. In the 1980s, my friends and I would go there to eat after playing. Their speciality was, and still is, the chutney. The addition of mint to the chutney and its watery texture is what makes it special. Back then, more than idli, we used to eat chutney,” said Anand Raj, founder of Eat Raja in Malleswaram.Raj remembers Hegde as a quiet man who usually sat at the cash register. “Now we have to buy a token and eat; back then, we would just eat whatever we wanted and go and tell him. He would accordingly tell us how much to pay. I also remember him frying vadas in the kitchen. Its crispy texture would immediately tempt us. The store is the pride of Malleswaram,” he said.Suchitra Deep, founder of Malleswaram Social, describes the store as a landmark. “I’m sure Hegde would not have thought that the small shop he founded would become this institution. Both he and Pradeep, his son, were at it for years,” she said.Deep remembers visiting the store around two decades ago, when the crowds outside made getting to the counter itself a challenge. “Even though they operated in a limited window, they were very efficient,” she said. “What I will always remember is the hole-in-the-wall outlet and the fact that they had the most amazing vadas and chutney. Nobody made vade like them.”
