This Govindas canteen is located at the Chanakya building in MBA block of the campus of KJ Somaiya group of educational institutes located at Vidyavihar (East) in Mumbai, India.
In the year 2010, the chairman of KJ Somaiya group of institutes attended the annual Ghatkopar rathyatra festival, enchanted by the festival, he was inspired to petition the authorities to allow the establishment of a 'vaishnava restaurant' on their college campus. The chairman requested the authorities to open a ‘vaishnav restaurant’ in their college campus, following which it started and was inaugurated by him, commissioner of Bombay Municipal Corporation and His Grace Shree Nath ji prabhu in the year 2010 itself.
At present this college canteen/restaurant is operating in campus of KJ Somaiya in full swing attracting a lot of young students everyday. Daily offerings are made to the deities of Lord Jagannath and Prasadam is available at the counter to enjoy. Govindas employs friendly staff who keep the canteen clean and enviting. Soothing kirtan is being played in the background exuding a positive vibe supporting a nice atmosphere.
Young students in the Govindas canteen
Govindas offers a rich menu for a fair price. Available is a variety of the traditional South Indian cuisine, such as dosas, vada, idli, samosas, vada-pao, different kinds of rice dishes, sandwiches, mixed in with some Chinese preparations. To complement the meals a nice selection of juices and milk-shakes are served. Govindas obtains their milk from the 'Nareshwadi cow farm' which is located in Palghar. Not to forget, Lord Jagannath likes His sweets to complete a satisfying meal. A full fledged combo will only cost you a whooping Rs. 45!
Don't miss out on the Happy Hour! Every day the buffet begins at 1pm, where Govindas is feeding an array of 600 school boys unlimited Prasad for only Rs. 45. Most of these happy kids are from pious Jain and Gujarati families and they love Govindas food.
Govindas kitchen
When I asked a group of commerce students (who used to visit Govindas once in a while) their feedback about this canteen for an article I wanted to write, they told me that they were well attended, environment was good, there was good ventilation and sitting arrangement was nice and spacious. A group of girl-students of commerce stream told me that they visit Govindas frequently and liked the cleanliness there as there was never any dirt lying on the table and cleaning was done timely, now they do not even feel like going at other canteens as they are very dirty and they stink. Some of these girls were Gujaratis and vegetarians, so they liked that there is no non-veg food available here. They also told me that the ‘waiting time’ was less and clean drinking water was always available. Environment was good and the garden in front of Govindas gave them nice feeling, whenever they entered, the idols of God made them feel positive. This is also a good place for parties and birthday celebrations where cakes are also served on request, they also get a good place to study and memorize and charge their mobile phones as well. These girls felt that there should be more chairs and fans here as this canteen is always crowded. They did like the juices here but not the tea (only caffeine free herbal tea is served here) and said that food was OK. They suggested air-conditioning would greatly improve the place but on second thoughts feared the prices would rise.
Govindas counter
One ex-student of Somaiya Engineering college remarked that there are positive vibrations in this restaurant, soothing kirtan goes on in the background. As for Rajaram Ji, the owner of the canteen, he is very involved with the daily affairs and service to customers. He is pleased and proud to serve his customers the very best food aka Prasad.
Rajaram prabhu told me that this restaurant has a good potential from preaching point of view, hundreds of young students honour Krishna prasad everyday and get a feeling that there is a Hare Krishna center in our college. Chairman of KJ Somaiya is impressed with this Govindas. People are also buying the Bhagavad Gita, Back to Godhead magazines, and books are available in Hindi, English, Gujarati and Marathi languages from the book-shelf placed near the cash-counter.
At the end of my visit, Rajaram prabhu shared a very sweet past-time with me which I'd like to pay forward. One morning a student named Ramkrishna Panigrahi, a native of Orrisa, heard the voice of Srila Prabhupada chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra coming from Govindas. Without second thoughts the young man hastened in to offer his service as a cashier. He felt this was a good place to do some sewa.
As we move more and more into the modern times, many young people loose their interest of leading a spiritual life, worse, they may not even like Krishna in any form. But devotees of the lord don't like to see this happening and creatively find ways to keep the path of devotion. Govindas in this college is one such place that has an enormous impact on the hearts and minds of countless young people, who honour Krishna Prasad, listen to kirtan, and buy spiritual books. This Govindas canteen is implanting the seeds of devotional service in these countless souls.
Govindas cash-counter
All glories to Srila Prabhupada and his servants who are serving his mission of serving humanity by giving them the mercy of Krishna.
[This article is based on Rajaram Ji's narrations, the manager of Govindas. Written by Premanjana Das (Pranjal joshi) in the month of March, 2014 in Mumbai, India]
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