#205: From my unlocked diaries: A forgotten women entrepreneur – Coffee Pudi Sakamma

There is no doubt about it; Namma Bengaluru has the best ‘Filter Kaapi’ ever !? It’s not just me saying, the world has acknowledged it too !! Bengaluru’s filter coffee has been listed at the 2nd spot by TasteAtlas on its prestigious list of top 10 coffees world-wide. ?Kaapi drinkers are a cult here; it comes in all shapes & sizes - by2, to 2by3 etc, with ‘less, plus and mix’ for those sugar minded !! ??

Coffee in Bangalore is now a big business, with a cuppa for everyone’s price & pockets.? High street, swanky, expensive airconditioned outlets like CCD, Costa, Starbucks, Third-wave for the rich & affordable, and good old Darshini’s for smaller pockets; and yes, not to forget the wandering cycle coffee vendors that roam the streets of Bengaluru. ?There is coffee for everyone’s Budget.

Have you ever wondered how Coffee became so popular in Bengaluru??

Well, the answer seems obvious, isn’t it?; it’s because Karnataka produces almost 70% of the coffee in India, with just the two districts of Chickmagaluru and Coorg accounting for the bulk of it. While that is one of the reasons for sure, behind this is a a women entrepreneur … Almost 100 years ago, she took the bold step of introducing the ‘wonder bean’ to the city of Bengaluru, in a powdered form, which led to a filter Kaapi revolution here !

Remember, back then there were no coffee machines or filters.? Coffee bean had to be dried, roasted, powdered and sold, for people to make coffee at home & restaurants by using a coarse cotton cloth as a filter.?

It is Coffee Pudi Sakamma who took that bold step of setting up the first coffee drying and powdering unit in Bengaluru. Even packed, branded & sold it.? I am sure many of you may not have heard about her.? Want to know more…?

Born in Bidare (a village in Karnataka’s Tumkur district) in 1880, Sakamma was a young girl when her parents moved to Bengaluru in search of a better livelihood. Bright and studious as a child, her love for learning and curiosity made her parents send her to school.? Living up to their expectations, she went on to become among very few girls who passed the secondary school examination in the Mysore Province.

However, her middle-class family fell on hard times soon after, and Sakamma was forced by circumstances to marry at the age of 16. Her husband was Savkar Doddamane Chikkabasappa Setty, an affluent coffee planter from Coorg who already had two wives.

Even as Sakamma was settling into life as a rich planter’s wife, she lost her?husband within two years of her marriage. His other two wives followed in quick succession, leaving the young girl struggling to manage the sprawling coffee estate she had suddenly become the sole owner of.

But she was not the one to give up without a fight. Putting her school education to good use, Sakamma quickly learned the ropes of running a coffee estate and threw herself into its management. A strict administrator, she soon had the estate flourishing again.

In 1920, Sakamma moved to Bangalore, with the intention of expanding her coffee business. She set up her household in Basavanagudi, before opening a coffee curing cum powdering unit near Bull Temple Road.

As Sakamma’s coffee mix spread through the city, so did her name and fame. Buoyed by the fantastic response,? the young entrepreneur set up centres in different areas across the city, earning herself the nickname - Coffee Pudi?(Coffee Powder) Sakamma.

But Sakamma was not ready to hang up her boots yet. ?Now that her ventures were up and running successfully, she began devoting her time to various social causes. The kind of impact she created through these initiatives soon earned her a place among the prominent personalities of Bengaluru.

She was also one among the city’s business community invited by the then-government of Mysore to help plan the?industrial development in the princely state. Immediately agreeing to help, Sakamma invested generously to?build the Kuruhina Shetty Kendra Sangha and Hostel (located on New National High School Road in present-day Basavanagudi).

Recognising her service to trade and social welfare, the Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, honoured Sakamma with the prestigious title of ‘Lokaseva Parayini’?(one who is devoted to service of society).?Even the British were in awe of her achievements, especially during an era when women had limited opportunities?in trade and commerce —? and awarded her the ‘Kaisar-i- Hind’?(Jewel of India) medal.?

Sakamma went onto break?other glass ceilings too. She became the first woman to be nominated to the erstwhile Mysore Representative Assembly in 1928.? She passed away in 1950 at the age of 75.

Friends, the next time you relish that fresh filter coffee in Bengaluru, let’s remember Sakamma who made it all happen. For someone with very basic school education, coming from a village, she displayed tremendous leadership, business acumen and courage to take that first step of bringing coffee powder to Bengaluru almost 100 years ago.

For some strange reason the stories of pioneering women like Sakkama remain in the shadows …

Feb 6, 2025 ?

Balu

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