Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram cafe reopens post-blast; Founders dismiss business rivalry

Speaking to reporters, Divya Raghavendra Rao, co-founder of Rameshwaram Cafe, emphasized that hoteliers cannot compromise their integrity, as they play a vital role in nourishing the community.

Bengaluru: A week after a low-intensity IED blast took place at the Rameshwaram Cafe here, the outlet re-opened on Friday, with the founders ruling the possibility of business rivalry behind the incident.

Interacting with the reporters, Rameshwaram Cafe co-founder Divya Raghavendra Rao said that “hoteliers cannot stoop to such a level as their hands feed the people”.

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“Our objective is to take Indian, especially south Indian platter, to the global level. This (incident) cannot shake the courage of Indian culture, it cannot shake the spirit of the true Indians. The answer to the attempt to disrupt will be given when the cafe re-opens for the customers on Saturday morning (6 a.m.),” she said

Asked if it was an act of terror, she said it would be ascertained after the probe.

“We started our journey with a cart in 2012. After the war, there is peace, revolution, and change. The incident has made us strong. Our 1,500 employees will be ‘security guards’. Metal detectors have been installed at cafe outlets. There will be supervisors in plain clothes to keep an eye,” she said.

Divya Raghavendra Rao further said: “We are all set to set up cafe branches in the US, Dubai, and Singapore. Nothing changed in our lives. We are not taking additional security. We have come from a humble background. Who is going to harm us?”