Udupis are a visible Mumbai institution, dotting most parts of the vast city, once a basic no frills fast food place now it comes in various value added iterations where the ground floor is raw, and the aircon version upstairs serves the same fare in the fancier cutlery at double the price.

Prof Chinmay Tumbe from IIM A in his kaleidoscopic book, India Moving speaks about this circular migration.

Many of the Udupi Hotels have set up shop in the Gulf in particular Dubai, the Meena Bazaar area where the home never leaves. I once wrote a chapter on dubai food spaces for my now at pause book project, which I have a better understanding after I studied transnational spaces at NUS during the PhD coursework.