Shanmugam believes in treating his workers with respect and paying them in line with the work they do Debadatta Mallick
CHENNAI: On North Usman Road, cars zip by, barely passing a glance at the small shop on the side of the road with the words ‘Gandhiji Hot Chips and Sweets’ plastered in large red-coloured letters. A few patrons buy some tea from the shop, which was established in 1949, a year after the death of Mahatma Gandhi.
The shop was established by S Shanmugam’s father, S Swaminathan, to honour the freedom fighter and revolutionary. It was started as a potti kadai, or roadside stall, which sold tea, coffee, and roasted peanuts. For 50 years, Swaminathan ran the shop and after his death in 1991, Shanmugam took over.“My mother and father have both passed away. I dropped out of school in class 10 to run the shop. That was when I introduced sweets and savouries like chips and puffs for the customers. Now, I have around 20 employees working for me,” said the 43-year-old.
In 2001, Shanmugam added sweets to the menu, and makes items like kesari for the patrons. He believes in treating his workers with respect and paying them in line with the work they do.“My father always told me to be honest, because Gandhiji said that you have to be honest in everything you do. Other shops usually are deceitful when they balance their account books, and make money disappear and re-appear at the snap of their finger. My father was against that, and he taught me how to be an honest businessman by being honest with my customers and myself,” said Shanmugam.
Shanmugam insists he isn’t as knowledgeable as other people to offer them advice, but agrees that being more honest and truthful will help people in their day-to-day functioning. Next year, he hopes to have a special item introduced during Gandhi Jayanthi in honour of the Father of our Nation.
