On a hot afternoon, I stumbled upon a cool bar in a corner of Cherlai, Mattancherry. Little did I know that I had found refuge in one of Kochi’s oldest sarbath shops.
In 1970, Ravanan bought a small corner shop at Cherlai, Mattancherry, and introduced the town to a homemade concoction of inji (ginger) and lime, mixed with soda, syrup, and salt.
Forty years later, the shop stands tall as Ravanan’s delicacy and is a household name. Ravanan’s son, Vineeth, currently runs the shop to honour the legacy his father left behind.
“You couldn’t come near the shop because of how crowded it was at one point in time!” a veteran customer of the sarbath shop chimes in, reliving the glorious days.
“My father got my sister and me educated, paid for my mother’s hospital bills, and conducted my sister’s wedding, all with his earnings from the sarbath shop,” Vineeth shares.
“Mattancherry is a place unlike no other,” Vineeth shares. Muslims, Tamil-Brahmins, Jains, Gujaratis, Konkanis, and other communities share the town as their home.
“I know where to get the best uzhunnu vada or the best biryani in town because every community over here specializes in a different dish,” Vineeth proudly shares.