Paandi vs Paandi

Curry War: Paandi vs Paandi

The war had begun - over the hot and spicy curries of Sri Paandis at Section 11, PJ.

These two South Indian food restaurants are side-by-side each other. They have the same signboard and name, their waiters wear the same purple uniforms. They both had a common owner and both were disciples of the South Indian Chettinad shop in Brickfields, which is also named Sri Paandi.

The first Sri Paandi restaurant here is run by K. Saraswathy who started business in December 2000 in the quiet neighbourhood of the University Malaya Medical Centre. The problem began when another Sri Paandi, owned by David Gnanamuthu, opened for business next door two months ago. And that was when all hell broke loose. To complicate matters, David's father Chinnakannu Gnanamuthu, 60, has a 10% share in Saraswathy’s restaurant. As a loyal gesture, she gave the share to Chinnakannu, who was one of the original owners of the first Brickfields outlet.

Chinnakannu hoped that everything would end well with the parties reaching agreement soon.

"There is no use fighting over serving food to the public. They must serve the food with a good heart so that the public will be satisfied. I have told them to settle whatever misunderstanding between them," he added.

But in the meantime, the Sri Paandi vs Sri Paandi battle is brewing, with many customers confused over the same names. The competition has become so intense that their waiters canvass for customers, some resorting to pulling in people as they walk by. The daily scene outside the shops – with waiters walking around like sandwich boys with posters claiming to be from the original Sri Paandi outlet – has all trappings of a South Indian melodramatic movie. One thing’s for sure, both serve the same South Indian Chettinad spicy dishes prepared by cooks from India. The owners admit the confusion, but said that they hope to reach an agreement soon. “We are working it out and will resolve the problem and be united again,” said Saraswathy's husband, A. Shinnaiah.

Saraswathy said: “(David) Gnanamuthu must understand that his father is also our partner. We have a long-standing relationship. “The customers think that our shop has expanded as both restaurants' waiters wear the same purple colour uniform,” Saraswathy said. David said that he was all for a settlement and was willing to sell his restaurant to Saraswathy. The Sri Paandi became famous for its South Indian food when it first started operations in Brickfields about 20 years ago.

We just hope the Tamil Tigers will not join in the fray and brew it hotter.

Chinnakannu may be old but his wisdom transient business acuments - "There is no use fighting over serving food to the public. They must serve the food with a good heart so that the public will be satisfied."

The wiseman had said to all businessmen: You do not fight over business of which you are suppose to passionately serve your customers - you must serve with a good heart so that the customers will get satisfaction - that way, is the only way you can succeed. There is no other way except to steal and rob and burgle.

Maybe, UMNO and Khairy can learn from this old wiseman. But will they? I doubt because the poseurs' desires are ersatz - they gambit under the guise of the NEP to parlay more handouts, free things, free wealth, and without any sweat. They feign that meritocracy discriminates, and that equity must be given without the need to pay for it. Look at ECM Libra.