As I sipped my tea something peculiar caught my eye. A sequence of pictures hanging on the wall, Shiva sitting with Parvati, a framed Jesus and Mary hanging alongside a collection of calligraphic quotations from the Quran. The majority of the orange wall was adorned with quirky religious artifacts representing all the major religions. This made me sit up and take note of the other diners who had also squeezed themselves in Udaya Hotel in Kovalam, eagerly waiting for their breakfasts to be served.

I was in the company of other men young and old, students, lifeguards, executives and taxi drivers all bound together by the promise of hot tea and fresh food. The spartan tea shop is a sanctuary for scores of working men, regardless of their creed. And for them Udaya is the surrogate home kitchen.

Huddled together on canteen-style benches with bright colored plastic water jugs and spotless stainless steel plates on the table the all men clientele of Udaya enjoys unpretentious traditional Keralan breakfast dishes cooked in the upstairs kitchen.

The food served is simple but tasty and wholesome. I start with a plate of Mutta Curry and Appams - Hard Boiled eggs in a curry served with Rice pancakes crispy at the edges with a fluffy center. This is accompanied by endless ladles of Sambar (a hearty lentil vegetable curry) on the side. The heat of the Mutta curry is nicely balanced by the milder Sambar and the contrasting textures of the Appam are perfect.

My waiter insisted on serving me a portion of Puttu and Kadala. Puttu packs a mean punch, it is as intimidating to eat as it looks, a dense cylindrical steamed cake of rice powder and coconut. It is bland and serves as a base for the Kadala or Chickpea Curry. Even though the Kadala was quite flavorsome, I would have happily substituted it for more Sambar or Mutta.

The pace at which the food is served, tables cleaned and made ready for the next set is brisk and quite in tune with the overall functional aspect of the tea shop. It is a gentle reminder of many other such tea shops that pepper the country, where men go to eat not because it is an occasion but a necessity. It is a starting point, a pit stop for a cup of chai to face the relentless afternoon sun or simply a hot home-style meal before the end of the day, no matter who you are.