048 - Taste of life

My name is Deepan, owner of the restaurant ‘Covai Deepan’ which is located near GCT.

I completed my bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering at the Hindustan Institute of Technology in 2013. After graduation, my area of interest shifted to the hotel and culinary field. Before I started my own business, I worked at ‘Kovai Kabab’ near KCT for about three years to gain proper experience. I’ve been serving meals to students of GCT since 2017. In every batch, nearly 30 students become my regular customers.

During the early years, students used to order ‘Biryani’ the most. Now most of them order ‘Fried rice’, especially at night. I also try to fulfill the food preferences of students from other states since it is usually hard for them to adjust to our traditional cuisine.

To succeed in a field when there are always families that go to Annapoorna or busy workers that get parcel food from Geetha Canteen, I had to figure out a strategy. The natural choice was students since I always developed a good rapport with them in general. Students from 2017 visit my hotel even now.

I owe all the success of ‘Covai Deepan’ to my workers, special thanks to Mr. Bharathi who has been here since day one.

I am working towards opening two more branches of ‘Covai Deepan’. Partnering with my brother, I also run an IT sector called ‘Kalayan & Tech’ at the building ‘Bharathi Xerox’ is.

Once the lockdown is over, the menu will have more options than before [laughs]. We will bring Kheema Biryani, Paniyaram; we might even start chat items. So do visit our restaurant when you can.

Rather than a profit in income, the satisfaction of students is what makes me happy. Likewise, any complaint will always run in the back of my head until it’s rectified.

I really want GCT to re-open soon; the business has been a little down due to the pandemic. I request everyone to stay safe, while in college and while coming to eat at the restaurant too. GCT always supports me and vice versa.