One of the victims of the 2002 riots was the birthplace of the famous Gujarati thali.
The restaurant Chandravilas in the walled city, where the first thali was served way back in 1900, was burnt to ashes on February 28, 2002. Rioters had set fire to neighbouring shops and the flames had spread to the eatery, a symbol of Ahmedabad’s food heritage.
But they will mark their struggle of the past decade by serving a basic thali again, exactly a decade later, on February 28, 2012.
The restaurant’s owners – the Joshi family – had suspended the thali immediately and only served snacks. Besides the riots, they had also suffered in the Rs 2,100 crore scam of Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank (MMCB).Maulik Joshi, grandson of the founder Chimanlal Joshi, says they are already serving most components of the thali separately. The only thing missing is their famous dal-rice, which they will now start serving as part of the assortment.
“The fragrance of our dal would waft in the entire area in the old days as it was made using 38 ingredients,” he says. “We hope to recreate that magic on February 28.” Chandravilas was running in a 3,000-sq-foot space till 2002. Some portions are still not useable, but hope is floating again, just like the fragrance of the dal.
“The 2002 fire destroyed everything, including the old oak wood furnishings and old photographs,” Joshi adds. The entire property was on fire for five days.” They restarted serving tea and snacks in April 2002. “We had to work extremely hard for a decade to regain lost glory.”
The oak chairs had come from France and ceiling fans with wooden fittings were assembled by a British carpenter. Many families were addicted to the Chandravilas thali, which is still fresh in the minds of many old timers.
Such was Chandravilas’ fame that Mahatma Gandhi frequented it. Modern Gujarat’s founding father Indulal Yagnik’s had a favourite table here and Sardar Patel savoured ratalu ni puri. Bollywood’s biggest showman Raj Kapoor ordered food from here whenever he was in town.
