Grand Sweets! The well known sweet and savoury shop in Chennai has split. Instead of a unique, single point meeting ground for thousands of people, this landmark in Adyar, Chennai, has now split into two units with the same name, at the original venue. This is the result of division of the property between the two daughters of the founder of Grand Sweets (GS). Now, branches of these two split units (both named Grand Sweets) are putting down roots all over the city and, I understand, are likely to spread to other parts of Tamil Nadu.

It is common for popular restaurants to open branches to exploit the huge potential that a good brand name offers. It happened with McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Starbuck Coffee House, etc., all of which started in the USA and have spread all over the world. It is happening in our country with brands like Coffee Day, Barrista, Saravana’s, Sangeetha and Adyar Ananda Bhavan. The last one is known by the same name not only in Adyar and other places in Chennai, but also in different parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka!

But the way it has happened with Grand Sweets has broken my heart. I have no objection to the family opening any number of branches anywhere in the world. But it pains me to see the venerable institution split into two with a separation wall (like the one in the Ambuja Cement TV commercial) at the place of origin! Though a branch of Grand Sweets has come up very close to where I live, I still like to go to the original venue located on II Main Road in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, as the staff at the new branch are neither as friendly with old customers nor as aware of some of the famous items of GS. Like my favourite U/K Mavu (Urundai Kuzhambu flour) with which you can make delicious Urundai More (buttermilk) Kuzhambu or Paruppu Usili!

The late Natarajan Chettiar started Grand Sweets in a spacious residence in Adyar in 1982 with a vision to supply the best quality sweets and savouries to the neighbourhood. Over the years, GS has grown by leaps and bounds to become a “must visit” shopping point for any visitor to Madras that is Chennai (from within the country or even abroad) for its Kai Murukku, Thenghuzhal or a host of other crunchy savouries and delcious sweets. All the preparations are made with fresh refined oil and pure desi ghee by well experienced Maamis and Maamas. GS consistently provided excellent quality and taste, justifying the little extra you paid for an item.

People living in the city also visited Grand Sweets for one of its specialities – its very tasty (and free) prasadam that was distributed to all visitors in the morning and in the evening, every day, without fail! On Mondays it was Melagorai (Pepper Rice), Tuesdays, Rava Kesari, Wednesdays, Bisibele (Sambhar Rice), Thursdays, Venn Pongal (Lentil Rice), Fridays, Chakkara Pongal (Sweet Rice), Saturdays, Puliyodarai (Tamarind Rice) and Sundays it would be the ubiquitous Thayir Sadam ( Curd Rice).

I have been a customer of GS from the time it started. I would invariably visit Grand Sweets around prasadam time, only to discover that I was not alone. I would find well-known personalities of Madras/Chennai waiting near the prasadam counter to literally grab a dhonnai (dried leaf cup) with prasadam from the tray placed at the counter. Many would feel embarrassed to find themselves caught red-handed, but who cared! The delicious prasadam, which was not for sale, justified the little extra effort required to grab it!

I have bumped into long-lost friends at Grand Sweets. Many of them are NRIs or parents of NRI children, who would come to buy several packets of rice mixes, pickles, and savouries to be taken abroad. I used to take half a suitcase full of these goodies for my son and his friends when he was living in the US.

In spite of the hot and humid atmosphere (because of the asbestos roofing), there would always be a crowd at Grand Sweets right from 8 a.m. when it opened for business. The crowd began to grow during the afternoons, when it started serving tiffin items like Kuzhi Paniyaram and Adai Aviyal. This part of the business had grown so big that almost every Grand Sweets branch now has a ‘makeshift’ restaurant serving a variety of tiffin items, with some branches even serving mini-meals for lunch time. But two does not necessarily mean that they are better than one – and old and loyal customers feel that quality and service are not what they were in either the old Adyar shop or in the branches. With the increasing number of branches, the managements need to note that success in real sense can be assured only if the quality and service are the same and uniformly good in every branch.

Will the divided family consider breaking down the dividing wall and restore GS to what it was before the partition? If that happens, it would be no surprise if the crowds start teeming back to it from all over Chennai and even from abroad for the sheer joy of not only shopping at GS but also for the possibility of meeting old friends – and, of course, for the delectable prasadams offered every day!

I hope this is not just wishful thinking on the part of a loyal old customer of GS! And someone who knows a bit about marketing and sales promotion.

(The author can be contacted on 9840392082 or email: rvrajan42@rediffmail.com)