Eatery’s owner cannot read or write, but honours great academics of the world in his own wayIf you’re coming out of Kempegowda Bus Stand and decide to grab a dosa on the go from a local eatery, there is a chance you’ll stray into M Srinivas’s little joint near Terminal 1 — Panchamuki Hotel and Sugarcane Juice Center. While you order that dosa, your eyes will pan across the length of the wall, taking in the portraits of Ambedkar, Gandhi, and Field Marshal Cariappa. But it’s the paintings of the Wright Brothers, Charles Babbage, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and a legion of other global icons that’ll pique your interest. There are 46 of them.Six years ago, when Srinivas (58) first opened this eatery, a foreigner had walked in wearing Einstein on his T-shirt. When the owner enquired about the man on the shirt, the customer was shocked that he didn’t know who Einstein was, and then went on to introduce the genius physicist who came up with the theory of relativity. Srinivas was hooked.“I didn’t know much about these scientists. I still don’t,” he says. But he acknowledges their contributions to the world, and small things, like the telephone, that have made life simpler. “In this dark world, they’re like gods to me,” he adds.After that incident, he decided to have portraits of Indian and international icons on his walls. He went to Sapna Book House nearby and found a book that had pictures of all these men – Frederick William Herschel (discovered Uranus), Zacharias Jansen (invented the microscope), Simon Lake (built the first submarine), and many others.Then he got a Mumbai-based artist friend, Guruji, to paint their portraits, spending about Rs 2.5 lakh on the project. They sit in stark contrast amid humble surroundings, tin roofing and bare bones of light bulbs suspended from the ceiling. The names are written in Kannada, but Srinivas can’t read. He studied till class 5, he says, but it didn’t stick.A GOOD EMPLOYERThe restaurant is run by a team of 10, including Srinivas, whose employees are rather fond of him. They’ve all been with him from the start. About two years ago, he took them on a tour of Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai – in a flight. They still talk about that maiden trip in a plane.Once a year around Ganesh Chaturthi, Srinivas sells Ganesha idols, which bring in some extra income. But even otherwise, the business at the eatery is good. He earns around Rs15,000 every day, he says.A lot of his customers keep coming back. May be the food is really good; or may be it’s his good disposition and the many portraits (as he would have you believe). Either way, a little inspiration never hurt anybody.