When Paramanathan Ravichandran first arrived in Chennai 15 years ago, he had no idea what he would do for survival. He was among the thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils fleeing the civil war, hoping to restart life in a new country. “I walked aimlessly about the streets of Koyambedu for three days,” he says. He noticed the many tea stalls that dotted the neighbourhood. This is when an idea struck him.
Such establishments back home did brisk business with rolls — deep-fried golden-brown parcels of dough stuffed with chicken, eggs, and potatoes. To experiment, he decided to make a small batch of 30 rolls at his rented house in Porur with the help of his aunt Ragini and wife Dharuga. He began distributing them to shops in the neighbourhood, asking if they would be interested in selling this warm snack. “Some owners were kind and open to the new item,” recalls the 51-year-old, speaking of how he walked the length of the tea shop line for his business.
Paramanathan Ravichandran with paan in Chennai
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B
Gradually, the orders came piling in for all the varieties — chicken, egg, fish, and vegetable. Today, seated by the front steps of his venture KP Ravi Bakery tucked in a small lane at Alapakkam near Porur, he recalls the sweat and tears that went into setting up his business. This small unit with an oven only has space for two people to stand. It is Ravi’s identity in a new land; one that is not too far away. One that he has carved out with difficulty.
Adding up
Ravi came to India with nothing but two sets of clothes. He is from the village of Thennamaravadi that is about 65 kilometres North of Trincomalee. Back home, he was a Maths teacher. “My father K Paramanathan, the village head, was a Maths teacher too,” he recalls. Ravi, known as ‘Ravi sir’ among school students, was always good with numbers. After completing his Bachelor’s in Mathematics, he started his own tuition centre in Vavuniya and Mullaitivu, and was especially skilled at handling class XII.
Ravi also supplies to tea shops in and around Koyambedu and IT companies.
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B
Life at Thennamaravadi, Ravi recalls, was peaceful. “In my boyhood, I would catch prawns and crabs in the backwaters that my mother would cook fresh,” he says. “My family had over 150 cows that would graze freely; we grew groundnuts, onions, and paddy.” But once the war broke out, the village was wiped out, and along with it, Ravi’s family home, agricultural land, and a stable career in teaching.
In Chennai, he knew it was not going to be easy to start from scratch. Yet, his rolls did the talking. “I graduated to delivering orders on a cycle, and later bought a scooter,” he says. At one point, he was making 2,000 rolls a day with a team of 14, supplying to IT companies, schools, and colleges in Navalur, Ambattur, and Kelambakkam, apart from tea shops in Parry’s, T Nagar, Mount Road, and Madipakkam. This is apart from the railway canteens.
The sweet kombu bun at the bakery
| Photo Credit:
VELANKANNI RAJ B
Learning to swim again
The floods of 2015 however, shook things up and Ravi incurred heavy losses. Despite the stumbling blocks, he kept at it, managing to survive through the pandemic, even adding paan, the famous Sri Lankan flatbread to the menu.
Today, it is among his best-sellers and Ravi says Sri Lankan Tamils from near and far reach out to him to buy the bread. He delivers paan at places as far as Kundrathur on his scooter, apart from Anna Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, and Medavakkam in the evenings.
Paan, priced at ₹55 a piece, is a soft and flaky savoury bread and is available in two variations: roast and acchu. “We usually pair this fish, mutton, chicken curry, or even dal,” he says. Ravi also makes the addictive kombu bun, a long, soft bread with a sprinkling of sugar on top. He is now experimenting with the circular paan.
As tea time approaches, customers start trickling in and by 6.30pm, a small crowd has gathered at his shop, that is only increasing in number. Ravi’s phone keeps ringing with orders and he is briskly packing rolls and paan without looking up.
Ravi’s wife and 14-year-old son Kishan are now back home in Thennamaravadi. He too hopes to go back. “I want to ensure my business can run on its own before I do,” he says. “This will take around three years or so.” He does not know what he will do once he is back in Sri Lanka. “Perhaps I can take up teaching again,” he says. “But before I leave, I want to buy a house in Chennai.”
KP Ravi Bakery is located at MG Chakkrapani Nagar, 14th Street, Alapakkam. To place orders, call 8344911555, 8148931500.
Published – November 26, 2025 05:21 pm IST
