It’s amazing how memories are built; sometimes, all it takes is a cup of tea, and you seamlessly time travel.
On the corner of the main chowk of busy Panbazar stands an eatery called ‘Mahamaya Restaurant;’ it would hardly catch your attention. The eatery is devoid of any ornate decor and the shades of white and blue on the walls stand faded. But this place has seen the people grow, the city evolve and is unarguably a storehouse of some memorable moments for several people – young and old. The place has completed 100 glorious years of its existence.
It all began in the year 1918...
Mahamaya Restaurant was first established as an ordinary tea stall catering to a small portion of the mere 1500 people who lived in Guwahati. Naroram Barman and his two siblings undertook a bullock-cart ride from Chamata, Nalbari to North Guwahati and then a ferry ride to cross the Brahmaputra to seek his livelihood in the city. One side of the shop was for tea, biscuits, sweets, and paan-tamul whereas the other end cosmetics for the ladies.
A few years later, the establishment was converted into a thatched house, with sitting arrangements made for the customers to have tea and it survived many years in this avatar. The three storey building of the restaurant today was built in 1948.
Keeping abreast of time, the eatery not only changed its look, but also its menu. The 50s and 60s saw the addition of rasgullas, jalebis and samosas. The place flourished as a much sought after ‘adda’ zone. A cup of tea on the benches outside the stall with close friends became a customary scene. Naroram Barman passed away in 1964 – a generation came to an end but the legacy continued.
Naroram’s son Arjun Barman took charge thereafter. In 1970, Arjun added rice platter, pulao, roti-sabji, paratha-sabji to the menu of the restaurant. “We wanted to expand the business. With time, we also realised that if we needed to grow, we needed to offer something more to the people,” said Barman.
Mahamaya Restaurant went from strength to strength over the years. The place has been a go-to destination for several significant personalities from different verticals and times such as Late Bhupen Hazarika, Dwipen Baruah, Lakhyadhar Choudhury, Chandra Mohan Patowary, Himanta Biswa Sarma and JP Das among others who were once regulars there. “Dwipen Baruah often came to our shop. He would come, sit on the bench by the roadside, have tea, share jokes or sometimes sing a song or two. Pulao and egg curry happens to be the favourite of JP Das,” Barman shared while recollecting old memories.
From the sitting arrangements to the vintage menu board on the wall, everything about the place evokes simplicity – the common man’s place as is believed by its owners. This probably is the only place in the city where one can afford to have a soulful platter of paratha-sabji for just Rs 20. “I don’t want to change a thing about the price of the food here. I want to keep it low, and for the common folk. I have often had customers who work in the government sector and had not got salaries for several months. I feel good when they visit my food joint and go back feeling happy and content without having to burn a hole in their pockets. This is what the place is all about,” shared Barman with a sense of pride.
The place serves customers who come all the way from Maligaon to Panbazar to have a meal at Mahamaya. Achyut Kalita is one such customer who has been visiting the place since 1998. “This place is more than just a food joint. The food is tasty, filling and reasonable,” said Kalita.
Guwahati is a city of fables and the journey of Mahamaya Restaurant is a tale that is as endearing as it can get, reflective of the city’s culture, ethics and business practices.
