K Kamalathal, aged about 85 years, is lovingly and famously known as Idli-Paati in India. (Idli is – steamed rice cake fondly eaten in India and Paati means Grandmother in Tamil language) She is fondly called Idli-paati because she has been serving Idli’s in Vadivelampalayam village in Coimbatore district in Tamil Nadu state from the last few decades! The USP of her eatery is – she happily sells each Idli at Rs.1/- only (about 0.013 USD) with unlimited sambhar and chutney!
Her neighbours point out that she has toiled her way through her tiny, smoky kitchen, grinding batter and chutney on hand- 
operated stone grinds and steaming idlis on the wood-fired stone hearth for years now. This stone grinds are tough to use evenfor the fittest of the fit people. Yet, without any complains or expectations she would rise everyday before the sun to be able to satiate people’s hunger. She is one-woman army!
Earlier her Idli’s used to cost 25 paisa (about 0.0032 USD). Due to rise in inflation and other prices she had to increase it to 50 paisa and now finally to Rs.1/- idli. To give a fair comparison, usually Idli’s sell from about Rs.10/- pc onwards in a basic eatery, which is about 10 times her price.
Her Idli’s were a great boon to people during Covid times. She did not raise her prices and fed a lot of people during the hard times. There are times when people don’t even pay the full amount. But she doesn’t care. She is not churning Idli’s for profits but for feeding the hungry. She makes close to 1000 Idli’s everyday!
Her selfless service was noticed when a video by The News Minute (TNM) went viral. It caught attention of many. When billionaire industrialist Anand Mahindra, Chairman Mahindra Group, shared the viral video done by The News Minute on 10th September 2019, Coimbatore’s Idli paati’s fame began growing largely. Soon, Bharath Gas, Hindustan Petroleum, Thyrocare Technologies and more began lining up outside her house to help her to run her eatery.
So far Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil have together gifted Kamalathal with a regular stove, a commercial stove (larger than the regular model), three gas cylinders and one grinder. They’ve also offered to give free refills whenever she might need them. Thyrocare Technologies presented her with a larger, commercial wet grinder and Bharat Gas Coimbatore has also given her a stove and gas cylinder.
She had expressed a need for a better home and hence better facilities to churn out Idli’s in a more comfortable space. Anand Mahindra gracefully obliged! His company Mahindra Group bought a 1.75 cents of land near her current house in April 2021 and commenced construction in February 2022. The land was registered in her name too.
Fittingly, the house was handed over to Kamalathal on 8th May 2022 on accession of Mother’s Day. The house is about 300 square feet big with a dining hall and a single bedroom, attached with a bathroom, and a living hall.
Anand Mahindra put up a beautiful video on Twitter on Mother’s Day where she is cutting the ribbon of her new home. He wrote – “Immense gratitude to our team for completing the construction of the house in time to gift it to Idli Amma on MothersDay. She’s the embodiment of Mother’s virtues: nurturing, caring and selfless. A privilege to be able to support her and her work. Happy Mother’s Day to you all!”
Kamalathal told news media, “I am healthy now and I can serve people for the next 10 years. I won’t increase the price till my last breath. I am planning to run the business from the new house in the Tamil month of Vaikashi.”
When such beautiful people – Anand Mahindra and Kamalathal come together, magic happens. Each one wants to do their bit selflessly, without any expectations from each other at all. Such people are inspirations and role models for today’s children and adults!
#idlipaati #kamalathal #idli #tamilnadu #anandmahindra #thenewsminute
REFERENCES –
https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/coimbatore-idli-paati-k-kamalathal/
