What's in a name? A whole category of restaurants

Darshinis are a type of fast food restaurants native to the South-Indian city of Bangalore. I analysed their names to find the most common naming patterns.

By Aishwarya V

An illustration of a restaurant by the road. Figures crowd around a steel standing table, few figures are seated at tables. A large striped awning is over the figures. The illustration is representative of a 'darshini' - famous in the state of Karnataka, in India.

When fast food came to Bangalore in 1983, the South-Indian city embraced it with arms and wallets wide open. The pioneer, Café Darshini,[1] went on to inspire a new model of restaurants in the city called darshinis. There are a couple of ways to spot a darshini - affordable South-Indian vegetarian fare, tall steel tables and sometimes, the name.

The observant customer will find that the names seem to have a certain homogeneity. Earlier, the suffix 'Darshini' would separate these restaurants from other South-Indian eateries. However, an analysis of ~1,078 darshini names[2] revealed that this is not the case anymore. Initial findings showed that it is more likely for them to carry the name 'Udupi' (the name of a popular district in Karnataka, known for its local vegetarian cuisine).

However, it's the word 'Veg' (the colloquial word for 'Vegetarian') that found its way to over 500 darshini names.

A bar chart

Frequency of words appearing in darshini names*

All darshinis serve vegetarian food. Half the names analysed, mention it in their names - just in case.

*in a sample of 1078 names

Source: Kaggle

Veg

Udupi

Bhavan

Sri

Krishna

Upahar

Darshini

Vishnu

545

340

288

263

254

180

71

57

Veg food — a dime a dozen

A bar chart

Frequency of words appearing in darshini names*

All darshinis serve vegetarian food. Half the names analysed, mention it in their names - just in case.

*in a sample of 1078 names

Source: Kaggle

Veg

Udupi

Bhavan

Sri

Krishna

Upahar

Darshini

Vishnu

545

340

288

263

254

180

71

57

Veg food — a dime a dozen

A bar chart

Frequency of words appearing in darshini names*

All darshinis serve vegetarian food. Half the names analysed, mention it in their names - just in case.

*in a sample of 1078 names

Source: Kaggle

Veg

Udupi

Bhavan

Sri

Krishna

Upahar

Darshini

Vishnu

545

340

288

263

254

180

71

57

Veg food — a dime a dozen

A bar chart

Veg

Frequency of words appearing in darshini names*

All darshinis serve vegetarian food. Half the names analysed, mention it in their names - just in case.

*in a sample of 1078 names

Source: Kaggle

Udupi

Bhavan

Sri

Krishna

Upahar

Darshini

Vishnu

545

340

288

263

254

180

71

57

Veg food — a dime a dozen

A bar chart

Veg

*in a sample of 1078 names

Source: Kaggle

Udupi

Bhavan

Sri

Krishna

Upahar

Darshini

Vishnu

545

340

288

263

254

180

71

57

Veg food — a dime a dozen

All darshinis serve vegetarian food. Half the names analysed, mention it in their names - just in case.

Frequency of words appearing in darshini names*

Vegetarian food is both popular and abundant in India. One can assume that it will be available in most (if not all establishments). However, these name boards seem to indicate an exclusivity of "only vegetarian food" to attract customers. The names ending with "Veg" or "Pure Veg" are a clear nod to the food-preferences of the upper-caste Hindu customers.

"Veg" also found its way into the naming patterns of darshinis. Through the analysis, I identified four patterns with standard prefixes and suffixes.

A chart of naming patterns

“Sri New Udupi Veg”

Sri, New, Udupi, and Veg are the buzzwords to keep in mind while naming a darshini; most names are just variations of these four patterns:

Sri

Sri Udupi Park

Sri Vishnu Park

(98 unique names)

34

Sri Krishna Sagar

30

+ Proper Noun + Environment

10

(42 unique names)

Vijayalakshmi Veg

Chaitanya Veg

Shilpa Veg

23

12

12

Veg

Proper Noun +

New Udupi

New Udupi Garden

(38 unique names)

New Udupi Upahar

25

21

+ Noun

(45 unique names)

Udupi Grand

Udupi Ruchi

13

12

Udupi

+ Adjective/ Noun

A chart of naming patterns

“Sri New Udupi Veg”

Sri, New, Udupi, and Veg are the buzzwords to keep in mind while naming a darshini; most names are just variations of these four patterns:

Sri

Sri Udupi Park

Sri Vishnu Park

(98 unique names)

(42 unique names)

34

Sri Krishna Sagar

30

Vijayalakshmi Veg

Chaitanya Veg

Shilpa Veg

23

12

12

Veg

Proper Noun +

+ Proper Noun + Environment

10

New Udupi

New Udupi Garden

(38 unique names)

New Udupi Upahar

25

21

+ Noun

(45 unique names)

Udupi Grand

Udupi Ruchi

13

12

Udupi

+ Adjective/ Noun

A chart of naming patterns

“Sri New Udupi Veg”

Sri, New, Udupi, and Veg are the buzzwords to keep in mind while naming a darshini; most names are just variations of these four patterns:

Sri

Sri Udupi Park

Sri Vishnu Park

(98 unique names)

(42 unique names)

34

Sri Krishna Sagar

30

Vijayalakshmi Veg

Chaitanya Veg

Shilpa Veg

23

12

12

Veg

Proper Noun +

+ Proper Noun + Environment

10

New Udupi

New Udupi Garden

(38 unique names)

New Udupi Upahar

25

21

+ Noun

(45 unique names)

Udupi Grand

Udupi Ruchi

13

12

Udupi

+ Adjective/ Noun

A chart of naming patterns

“Sri New Udupi Veg”

Sri, New, Udupi, and Veg are the buzzwords to keep in mind while naming a darshini; most names are just variations of these four patterns:

Sri

Sri Udupi Park

Sri Vishnu Park

(98 unique names)

(42 unique names)

34

Sri Krishna Sagar

30

Vijayalakshmi Veg

Chaitanya Veg

Shilpa Veg

23

12

12

Veg

Proper Noun +

+ Proper Noun + Environment

10

New Udupi

New Udupi Garden

(38 unique names)

New Udupi Upahar

25

21

+ Noun

(45 unique names)

Udupi Grand

Udupi Ruchi

13

12

Udupi

+ Adjective/ Noun

A chart of naming patterns

Sri

New Udupi

“Sri New Udupi Veg”

Sri Udupi Park

Sri Vishnu Park

Sri, New, Udupi, and Veg are the buzzwords to keep in mind while naming a darshini; most names are just variations of these four patterns:

New Udupi Garden

(38 unique names)

(98 unique names)

(42 unique names)

New Udupi Upahar

34

Sri Krishna Sagar

30

Vijayalakshmi Veg

Chaitanya Veg

Shilpa Veg

23

12

25

12

21

Veg

Proper Noun +

+ Proper Noun + Environment

+ Noun

10

(45 unique names)

Udupi Grand

Udupi Ruchi

13

12

Udupi

+ Adjective/ Noun

If you were to go darshini-hopping, you would find most of them clustered in the southern parts of the city, close to where the first darshini appeared. Localities such as BTM layout, HSR and Koramangala - housing large student and working populations - are bursting with them.

So the next time you're in Bangalore, make sure you type the right search words to find your nearest darshini. You'll have a hot meal, coffee, and then kindly asked to be on your way.