Whenever we encounter a big fat wedding here in Coimbatore, mostly the caterer of the feast would probably be Madhampatty R Thangavelu, who is well-known for catering sumptuous, elegant and innovative wedding feasts. His entity Madhampatty Group of Companies is now completely taken care by his sons. His elder son, T. Rangaraj was one of the speakers at Tedx, Coimbatore, on 8th April, 2017.
Rangaraj's speech at Tedx Coimbatore intensely moved the audience for his story was one of rags to riches. Rangaraj connected well to the audience with his awe-inspiring journey from a tamil medium school boy to CEO of Madhampatty Group of Companies.
'To stay focused and determined was an art that I learnt from my Father', gleams Rangaraj who was schooled at Madhampatty Primary Middle school and was brought up in a village.
Rangaraj shared that 'I have never been to a city until College'. It was a nightmare for me when I joined College, as English was kind of an alien language to me. Initially, I found myself very uncomfortable as I couldn't understand the terminologies used by the faculty. Though it was tough, i was not scary. I approached my faculty and disclosed my fear. I thank them now for being patiently elaborating the subject to me in my comfort zone which not only motivated but inspired me to learn English.
Believe it or not, my father was a cook from when he was 12 years old, but still there were times as a family when we did not get food all three times a day. But all through this journey, I have never seen my father dejected. He always wore a smile and pushed harder every day to move forward.
No school or college can teach the lessons that we can learn from our parents. People knew him after his success but I know how he built his own success ladder and how he climbed it with humbleness' said an emotional Rangaraj.
After my college, I joined work at Bangalore. During one of my visit to Coimbatore, my father discussed with me regarding transforming and improvising our catering business at par with today's expectation. He asked me, if I would be interested in learning the skill and take his idea forward, I instantaneously said a happy 'Yes'!
And from that day, I started my journey as a learner. I did a couple of courses in catering and food management and also accompanied my father to all weddings to learn the nuances. I served food in many weddings and once it happened that a few of my college friends saw me serving food. I was happy to see my friends but they weren't, instead they were shocked. They came to me and advised me to stop doing this as it was not a note-worthy profession and also hinted me that i wouldn't get a good bridegroom. Such criticisms came from all directions as I progressed in my journey but I believed in what I did.
From a person who had no idea as what cooking is, now am handling weddings that could serve 10,000 people. And, Madhampatty Group of Companies is now an established and trusted brand among the people of this city' Rangaraj said.
Showing a presentation of the weddings handled by him in the recent times and the elaborate wedding feast. The audience were taken aback by the professionalism and the luring palette. The staff who handle the wedding be it the cooks or who serve the guests, Rangaraj mentors each of them personally to bring the best of them.
'To us, the ultimate happiness and appreciation is when we see the feel of content in our guests faces. It is a great tonic that boosts us to move forward...'
Our journey has got more interesting as my brother who was employed in an IT firm had also called it quits and joined our catering journey. Hence, as a team we are stronger now and confident of taking this business to a whole new level. Proving this point, Madhampatty Group of Companies is now all set to unveil their college exclusively for catering and food management, shortly.
'Catering is an art of serving happiness. This art shouldn't stop with us and that's when we decided to start an exclusive college for food and catering. Soon, the college will see it's opening and we have a lot to offer to the youngsters' said Rangaraj at Tedx Coimbatore.