Two well-marked natives of particular districts of Karnataka and Kerala figured in a cartoon following the historic event of astronauts landing on Moon (July 16, 1969). A tea stall and an establishment to serve coffee and snacks (idli, dosa) were shown to have pre-empted the astronauts in reaching the Earth’s satellite orbiting at an average distance of about 385 kms. The message of that cartoon portraying the pioneering nature of these two sections in the country’s population to provide hospitality as it were may not have been missed by readers of dailies that published the cartoon, all in good humour. Mysuru has not lagged behind any city across the country in hosting the hospitable destinations to the urbanites, given the number of them being counted in four digits (Mysuru has reportedly more than 4,000 mobile canteens spread across all parts of the city). The sharp rise in the number of different avatars of hospitality destinations in the city, namely hotels, restaurants, darshinis and other eateries catering food cannot be missed, some streets hosting them to meet the preferences of gourmets of all cross-sections of society in their socio-economic diversity.
Providing the visitors to the city, particularly yatris, free lodging in choultries, a culture dating back to several centuries, has passed into pages of history. The choultry or dharmashala has yielded place to the hotel, with the classical definition as an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Hotels are currently classified by star-rating, with the five-star hotels marked by tariffs beyond even the upper middle class.
