Salem: If you drive to the west along State Highway 219 from Salem, you will chance upon a bustling roadside eatery run by an elderly couple at Chinnappampatti, a small village under the Pappampadi panchayat.
Apart from locals, truck drivers plying their vehicles on the route would swear by the food here. The most sought-after item on the menu at this modest stall is the delicious chilli chicken. Made with a melange of exotic ingredients and served piping hot, one just cannot resist the urge of digging into this lip-smacking dish. Unsurprisingly, the eatery bustles with diners and there is the hassle of getting a table, especially at peak hours.
In the past, people used to throng this nondescript stall to relish the food, but now there is a sudden spurt in the number of visitors, and it is not without reason. This food joint is owned by India's new pace sensation T Natarajan's parents Thangarasu and Santha.
The 29-year-old Natarajan, or ‘Nattu’ as he is fondly called, is the eldest of their five children. Both Thangarasu and Santha, who belong to the backward weaving community, used to work as daily wagers in a textile mill in the locality to feed the family. In the evening, they would sell snacks and chicken dishes at the wayside stall to supplement their household income.
They were pinning their hopes on Natarajan for a better tomorrow. Natarajan showed interest in cricket when he was in Class 5, but many of his close relatives and well-wishers had discouraged him from playing the game. Often out of the best of intentions, they would tell his parents that cricket would ruin his future. But Thangarasu and Santha paid no heed to their advice and allowed Natarajan to pursue his true calling.
Natarajan did not let them down. When he made his debut for India in the third one-dayer against Australia at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on December 2, 2020, it was an emotional moment for Santha. "Nee saadhichitte raasa (you've done it, my dear)," she said amid tears of joy when she saw her son on the pitch donning the Indian colours.
Natarajan's parents have been into the food business for the last 18 years. Initially, they used to sell snacks on a push cart. It was only recently that they set up a permanent stall in the vicinity of their humble abode. Though their son has become a household name in India and is scaling new heights in cricket, Thangarasu and Santha do not want to leave the food business.
"There are three more daughters to be married off, so we have no plans to shut down the eatery. Earlier, people come here only to eat, but nowadays many visit our stall to click photos with us," they say, beaming with pride.