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Greeting guests at the Galle Face Hotel for more than half a century, Kuttan reminisces about his life and service

It’s hard to miss 86-year-old Chathukuttan at the Galle Face Hotel entrance. Rain or shine he is there, courteously greeting visitors with an Ayubowan, his presence an intrinsic feature of the hotel’s reception.

Completing 64 years at this landmark hotel, Kerala-born Kuttan is the oldest serving employee of the Galle Face Hotel, established in 1864, and thereby, something of a symbol of the country’s tourism heritage.

How did this man from a small South Indian town called Thrissur carve a niche for himself in this legendary institution? Stroking his upturned silver moustache, Kuttan tells us his life story, refusing to sit down the entire length of time.

His is a saga of hard work and perseverance. Born into a poor family in 1920, Kuttan dropped out of school in Year Four and took on odd jobs. He was 16 when his mother died, and he knew he had to seek a job elsewhere. Hearing of an uncle who worked in a tea factory in Ceylon, he began his journey with only Rs. 25 in his pocket.

“It was 1938 and we did not need visas or passports then,” he says. He waited a week at Mandapam working for food at a tea shop, awaiting the ship that sailed to Talaimannar from Rameswaram. “It was a day’s voyage,” he recounts, after which he took a train to meet his uncle at a tea and rubber estate where he stayed for a month.

Thereafter he commenced work at the De Sarams’ (father of the late Srimani Athulathmudali) residence where he received Rs. 10 per month as wages. He recalls the Japanese bombing during World War II, when many Indians returned to India, but he decided to stay on.

In 1942 he was employed by the Galle Face Hotel restaurant earning Rs. 20 a month. “It was enough for my needs then,” he smiles. He and his Sri Lankan wife Lourdes Mary, whom he married in 1952, lived in a small house in the area where Liberty Plaza now stands, from where he would walk to work each day. The entire landscape of Colombo was different then, Kuttan reminisces. Galle Face Hotel was the only hotel in the area with the Parliament building and the President’s House to one side.

Kuttan has seen celebrities and royalty, and reels off a list of international dignitaries that include Queen Elizabeth II, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Prince Aga Khan, and many more during his 53 years at the restaurant and 11 years as part of the hotel’s welcoming committee.

However, life was not easy. He was widowed in 1995, and his married daughter was widowed in 2005, leaving the burden of providing for her and her five children on his shoulders. His other unmarried daughter works in Kuwait.

Kuttan, however, has learnt to accept the good times with the bad. In 1980 when he was to retire, Galle Face Hotel Chairman Cyril Gardiner, impressed by his sincere service said, “Kuttan can decide when to retire.” In 2004 he got an opportunity to go back to his home town for a month, where he met with his two sisters and their families. It was certainly a momentous time for him.

More recently, one-and-a-half years ago, his grand-daughter who was performing a pooja set fire to herself by accident, suffering severe burns and requiring eight months of hospitalisation. Galle Face Hotel Chairman Sanjeev Gardiner came to his rescue covering a major chunk of the medical expenses. However, the incident compounded by other problems in the family, forced him to sell his house.

Today, Kuttan who takes his job very seriously, continues to make his way to the hotel at 4 a.m. and is dressed and ready at the entrance by 6 a.m. He obviously does not make any allowances for his age. Asked if there was anything else he needed to do, “I desperately need to buy a house,” Kuttan says, adding that he has saved some money, but needs some more. His responsibilities would then be complete.

Reflecting on his life, “I do not believe in karma, but I worship Gods of all religions,” Kuttan says, attributing his achievements to sheer hard work. With pride he points to the various badges on his uniform gifted to him by guests from Canada, US, UK, India, the Arab states, etc., evidence of his happy interaction with guests from all over the world.