KOCHI: The man who pioneered the concept of a no-booze, all-vegetarian star hotel in the city, P Govinda Rao breathed his last on Friday. During his career spanning over six decades, the veteran hotelier established the Bharath Tourist Home (BTH) which grew from a humble vegetarian eatery to a group of exclusive hotels and resorts.But more than as an ambitious businessman, Rao was known to many as a prominent personality in Kochi ever willing to participate in the cultural and political life of the city.Being centrally located in Kochi and lying close to prominent colleges like the Maharaja’s, the BTH attracted a number of prominent writers and poets. “Madhavikutty, Balachandran Chullikkad and I started a writers’ workshop which was to be held every month at the BTH. Rao was delighted by the idea. So much so that he never charged us anything for these meetings which saw at least 20-25 writers every month. He was always interested in encouraging the writers’ fraternity. He himself was actively involved in the cultural activities of Kochi especially that of the Kerala Fine Arts Society,” says writer K L Mohanvarma.The hotel under Rao also became a hub of political activity, for instance all the meetings of the KPCC were held at the BTH.“Many veteran Congress leaders had close relationships with Rao,” says Excise and Ports Minister K Babu. In fact, when K K Vishwanathan was the KPCC president and when a situation arose when he couldn’t function at the KPCC office, he put up a camp office at the BTH. What made him special was the personal touch. During the meetings, Rao himself would come to us and enquire about the food and various other things,” the Minister says.Many recall the rise of the hotel from a little vegetarian Udupi hotel near the Ernakulathappan temple, a hotel which provided fresh milk from the cows that were bred in a cow shed next to it, to a full-fledged star hotel under the leadership of one man who failed to bow down to the tyrannies of luxury.
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