It was the aftermath of a casual conversation that P Rajagopal had in 1979 at a grocery shop of his, which sowed the seeds for the opening of the vegetarian restaurant chain – Saravana Bhavan. A measly lunch meant travelling to T Nagar because KK Nagar did not have a single restaurant. In the pre-liberalisation era, when restaurants were a rarity in Chennai, and India, Rajagopal forged ahead and laid the foundation for what would become a global hospitality empire, starting with his very first restaurant in 1981.

From the start, Rajagopal is known to have been a stickler for quality, going so far as to dismiss an advisor, who told him to make do with inferior produce and lesser wages for his staff. To keep the customers coming, he ran his restaurant at a loss of over Rs 10,000 every month. But word of mouth and goodwill garnered him sizeable patronage that kept growing over the years. By the beginning of the 90s, the chain had spread throughout neighbourhoods in Chennai, where people thronged eateries by the thousands, thanks to a sweet spot on price points.

As the new millennium dawned, Rajagopal, who seemed to have drawn lessons from his visits to Singapore, where he encountered MNCs like McDonald’s grew curious about expansion. That was when M Mahadevan, a well-known consultant and the man behind Hot Breads and Oriental Cuisines, prodded Rajagopal to take the global plunge. Mahadevan was instrumental in helping the chain embark on a full-scale international expansion. In 2000, under his guidance, SaravanaBhavan opened its first branch outside India, launching a franchise in Dubai, targeting the Indian expatriates. The chain went on to expand to Paris, Frankfurt, London, New York City, Dallas, Toronto and Doha and now has a presence in over 21 countries today.

He commands the fierce loyalty of his 8,000 plus employees, who swear by his generosity. During the early days, Rajagopal had begun the practice of serving food on plantain leaves on the plate, which gave customers a notion of freshness, and it helped the staff wash the plates in an easier way. The strict disciplinarian went on to ensure his employees were well groomed, with mandatory monthly haircuts and curfews at midnight, to keep productivity in top shape.