Udipi Cafe

We have been running this cafe at Paldi Cross Road for a long time now. It sits right across from the Paldi bus stop, so there is always a lot of movement. You can hear the buses pulling in and out all day long. Sometimes the smoke from the exhausts drifts in if the wind is blowing the wrong way. We open up early in the morning, usually around six or seven, to get the first batch of coffee ready for people heading to work. The floor is old tile and we scrub it every morning, but it still shows its age. We have a few fans that hum quite loudly, especially the one near the back. Our staff is just a small group of us who have lived in Ahmedabad for years. We don't have any fancy menus or uniforms. People come in, sit down on the plastic chairs, and tell us what they want. It gets very crowded around lunch time when the office workers come by. We try to keep up but sometimes things get delayed if the stove is acting up. We don't do any advertising or anything like that. Most people just know we are here because they see the sign when they get off the bus. It’s a simple life for us. We just keep the kitchen going and make sure there’s enough sugar for the tea. That’s about it for our little spot in Paldi.