Business Adaptability - Darshini style

I first came to Bangalore in 1989 to start my career in advertising. During the early years of that stay, I would visit south indian restaurants every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was then that Darshinis became a part of my daily life. While the very first Darshini in Bangalore started in the early 80s, it was only in the early 90s that they started mushrooming around the city. Except for good south indian food, Darshinis were everything that a biggish restaurant wasn’t - self service, standing only, quick service, and affordable.?

I was at one such Darshini the other day and a thought struck - if one has to look for an example for business adaptability, Darshinis provide a great one.

So, what has changed from the Darshinis of the late 90s to now??

1. Quick standing-only service to conversation-friendly seating

A Darshini was an answer to people in need of a quick, affordable refreshment - typically, office going, commuting sales people, traders travelling to the city for a day trip, etc., As the populace got more comfortable with the idea of a Darshini, what was once a stopover for a quick coffee/meal turned into a place where one was having conversations - people getting together after a walk, or office colleagues taking a break together. Another change started emerging - what was primarily a male dominated adda, started attracting women office workers and also, families.?

This meant that the Darshinis had to rethink their model a bit - new Darshinis, however small, started planning for tables for seating, to accommodate the shift to conversations.?

2. Bangalore cuisine to Indian

Bangalore was always seen as a sleepy city as compared to Mumbai and Delhi. However, with the IT boom came the influx of people from other states, notably from North India. The menu used to have a limited range - idli-vada, plain-masala dose, set dose, poori, chow-chow bath, and khara bath. Today, thanks to the geo diversity that Bangalore commands, the menu has not just North Indian items but Chinese too.?

3. Hygiene - headwear, gloves

As the professional crowd becomes more hygiene conscious, the Darshinis have started taking steps to show that they take the matter seriously. It’s not uncommon to see the serving staff wearing head-cover and gloves while serving.?

4. Have your coffee sugarless or with less sugar

Coffee in a Darshini was a standard fare with a good amount of sugar to give a fitting end to a meal. The coffee serving counter would have only one vessel of milk with sugar pre-mixed. All that the serving staff would do was take a small amount of coffee decoction and add the sweet milk.?

With increasing incidence of diabetes and also increasing awareness of ill-effects of sugar, it’s now common for people to ask for sugarless coffee or coffee with less sugar. So, the serving counter now has two vessels for milk - one with premixed sugar and one without sugar.?

5. Newspaper packing to custom-designed packaging for take-away

If you wanted to get something packed from a Darshini even in say 2010, you would most likely get food packed in a newspaper with a plantain leaf inside. No longer. Almost every Darshini today has a custom-designed packaging for various items. Again, a result of the changing profile of its user base.?

6. Kannada speaking staff to multilingual staff

Till about 10 years ago, the serving staff in a Darshini was entirely local and spoke only Kannada. Today, given Bangalore’s fantastic population diversity, no customer facing business in Bangalore can afford not to have staff that speaks in different languages.?

If one were to chart how the Darshinis have changed over the last 30 years, every change you will see has been an attempt to keep up with the social, cultural and lifestyle changes that Bangalore has gone through over the years. It’s fascinating that despite the small scale of their business, the Darshinis have adapted to changes around them quickly and have continued to thrive.?

If you are in Bangalore or have been to Darshinis in Bangalore, you would have seen these changes too. What’s your take?