Mohanan serves tea, snacks and some beautiful melodies to his customers

Refreshing tea and tasty snacks are not the only things that are served at Mohan’s tea shop in Mukkali Junction near Pallickathodu in Kerala's Kottayam district. You could enjoy the tea while listening to some old Malayalam songs that have stood the test of time. Interestingly, even though CDs and pen drives have taken over the old tape recorder, the songs are still played here from cassettes and tape recorder that are decades old.

There are people who come here only to listen to the songs while lavishly enjoying the tea. It was twenty five years ago that N Mohanan started this tea shop at Mukkali junction. However, his love for old Malayalam songs is older than that.

In the olden days, Mohanan used to reach Pala to write the names of the songs in the register to get them recorded. Now, he is the proud owner an incredibly huge collection of cassettes. He keeps these cassettes in his shop and at home too. Besides, there are cassettes that were brought from abroad. Whenever his friends who worked abroad came home for the holidays, Mohanan asked them to bring good quality cassettes. There are a few cassettes that he considers as ‘treasures’. The iconic 'Kathaprasangams' (lyrical narratives) Othello and Aneeshya by the legendary artist V Sambasivan. The three hour long programs were directly recorded when the items were performed live abroad. His love of old Malayalam melodies have inspired him to begin a karoke concert troupe called Desa Sevini Melodies based in Mukkali.