If Bombay has its Jafferbhai, then Ahmedabad has a vegetarian version in Gordhan Maharaj, easily the first name in the catering business of the city. It is said, no one in high circles has a party without Gordhanbhai's food and he is so popular that he is already booked till the middle of next year!  That says something for this 49-year old veteran. With knowledge comes skill and as he sits across me at his office at Judges Bungalow Cross Road, he exudes the acumen of a businessman. Facts and figures are in his head and at the tip of his tongue. His love for what he does, at the base of it all. It is a well-known fact that the diffident man knows the likes and dislikes of every family in Gujarat. "They are like family," he says. "I used to do the Mafatlal Group Catering," he says. "Then when Dhirubhai Ambani's varshi took place," I catered for that too.

Well, Gordhanbhai has expanded his reach globally too. He informs me that he has catered at places as far off as America, Malaysia, Turkey and for the B. Arunkumar dinner his hospitality extended to Belgium too. How different is it to liaise with an overseas event from his office here in Ahmedabad?  Does it give the same satisfying result? "Of course," he dismisses my wonder. "You get everything abroad, you know, all ingredients, spices, everything. I just send my list of ingredients to be purchased across to the country. Then closer to the assigned date I go there myself," he says.

We are interrupted by his younger brother Chhagansingh who handles the orders. He irons out a few details with Gordhanbhai. They are for a party abroad and the information has just been e-mailed. Our caterer has no computer himself, he sits in a pristine office, lots of papers on his table, no visible traces of technology here. Obviously, the man's forte is his food; other peripherals of the business are handled by his staff.

It is a busy office. He has almost 200 cooks under him and a staff of 2,000 for the rest of the business. And when Maharaj is not cooking, he is at his restaurant Gordhan Thal - his pride and joy, which he started not too long ago.

After I finished talking to him in his office I willingly went to his restaurant  for some lunch. There were at least six dozen people waiting outside for tables! The restaurant is spacious, a large hall especially meant for weddings and celebratory meals. Here he serves his specialty, the thali. It is aam ras in summer and undhiya during the winter.   On weekends and during the wedding season, the place resembles a mela or fair with the Ahmedabadi crowd arriving in colourful attire.

It's been a long journey for this caterer. He is the perfect example of a self-made man, who walked the hard road to success. Hailing from a family of farmers, Gordhan, as a twelve year-old boy, decided to move out of his home to find work. That was in 1971. He was quite penniless then, he says, but even as a young boy he felt the urge to eke out a living for himself. Destiny took Gordhan all the way from his Pava village in the Pali district of Rajasthan to the big city of Bombay. New Adarsh Lodge is where he took up employment as a coal breaker, "I had no clue about cooking," he admits. He worked at a salary of Rs. 5 a month!  This was more like a summer job and after a while he had to return home. Another job offer  came up in Ahmedabad itself. Gordhan was required to make chappatis for a children's hostel- Unnati Vidhyalaya. That done, there was work at another lodge. “What is it with lodges?” I ask him. They seem to have had a hand in shaping his career. "This one in particular did," he says. "I consider it  my auspicious beginning." The job profile was of a sous chef and Gordhan was required to cook for a yatra, a pilgrimage to Kedarnath-Badrinath.  This was organized by Radhe-Shyam tours, a name known to many. The two month tour saw Gordhan elevated to the position of a salaried chef, he was now  firmly entrenched in the culinary field. Once the tour ended a friend suggested the name of a big household at Amreli, his first official job as a maharaj (chef). Three years of experience and Gordhan decided to build and run a lodge of his own and call it 'Siddhivinayak Lodge', named after his belief in the Elephant God. The lodge unfortunately did not do well. "I had no knowledge of business and so I burnt my fingers," he says.

Six months later he was back in Ahmedabad. A person by the name of Motilal Maharaj offered him 15 percent partnership in his business. They did quite well and Gordhan managed to save his earnings. In 1981,  fate smiled kindly on the man. He started Gordhan Caterers, an enterprise that rides the swell of success today. From the first year of its run business was good. "I started taking shaadi (wedding) orders and everyone got to know me by word of mouth," he declares.

Gordhan Maharaj's laurels are proudly displayed in his office for all to see. A small corner at one end is reserved for awards and plaques that he has received over the years. One among them, is presented to him, felicitating him as the Vice-President of the All Gujarat Caterers Convention  (AGCC).

A disciplinarian, Gordhan works on the philosophy that there is no compromise with a customer, who must always get the best. Keeping that in mind, he built his empire handpicking only the best cooks in the trade. So well-structured is his company that Gordhan Caterers have menu planners on the rolls too. His two sons, Balwant (who is 20 years old and a hotel management graduate from Ooty) and Pravin (who studies in the 12th standard) have joined him in his business. His two daughters, Saroj and Suman are married. "And who catered for their marriage?" I asked in mock seriousness. "I did", he said, startled. Then getting the drift, he laughed.  
 
Gordhanbhai has catered to a variety of functions, some very large scale. One of his biggest orders was to supply simple prayer food to a crowd of 25,000!  Catering to a 6,000 strong wedding crowd comes easy. Work sees him travel quite a bit in India.

"In Bombay, people pay well, they want the best and are willing to pay more, but this is Ahmedabad," he says, adding, "people will not do so here." He charges anywhere between Rs. 100 a head to a whopping Rs. 900 a head, depending on the spread. "For Mukesh Ambani's 50th birthday at Jamnagar, it was Rs. 1,500 a head," he says with pride. December is peak season and that is when Gordhanbhai and his team are at their busiest.

All this must tire the man out, for it seems a tough job to be at the helm of something so large, so successful. He admits stress has taken its toll on him. "It's a tension-filled job," he starts saying, "One has to stick to deadlines all the time. Punctuality is paramount to everything. For example, if the baraat is to arrive at 6.00 p.m., I can't be late  even by a minute." An honest and simple man, he doesn't mind sharing personal details. A few years ago he suffered a heart attack. "I'm careful of what I eat now or rather my wife takes care that I do," he says. She is a traditional woman and not involved in her husbands business. "She's a desi-biwi," says the caterer and then laughs heartily at his little joke. It's hard to think of this person sitting across me as shrewd or calculating. He is anything but that. It only goes to show that you might be at the top of a moneyed empire, but you can still be a simple, good human being. And Gordhanbhai is all that and more. He considers friendships as his most valuable asset and not money. his eyes light up when he fondly remembers a few relationships that he has developed over the years. "You know, I catered for Pankajbhai's (of Cadila) daughter's wedding. I was also called to do the food for his son's engagement and when he gets married, I am sure I shall do the arrangements for that too," he says with twinkling eyes.

Gordhan Caterers
2nd floor, Rudra Square,
Judges Bungalow Cross Road,
Bodakdev,
Ahmedabad.
Tel: 079 26872550.
Email: [email protected]