by Dr. Iain
Corness
One
of the driving forces behind the new ‘Indian by Nature’ fine dining
restaurant in the Chateau Dale Plaza is an energetic Thai/Indian woman,
Avninder Khanijou (“Just call me Av”). She is an example for many
women, showing that liberation comes from within, and success comes from
hard work.
Av was born in Thailand, in Bangkok. Her father was of
Indian descent, and he too was born in Thailand, while her late mother was
an Indian immigrant. “She was a real smart lady,” said Av proudly, but
it soon became evident during the interview that her mother was not the
only “smart lady” in the household.
Av’s initial home was Phitsanulok, where her father
was at that time a cloth merchant. She was the eldest of his three
children, and when old enough was sent to what would be considered a
‘good’ convent school in Mussoorie in India. This was a fairly
standard educational practice in those days.
When she was 14 years old she returned to Thailand to
continue her schooling in Bangkok, where she chose to enter a commercial
college, as her ambition was to be a teacher. After graduation from there
she did not sit back, but she continued with her own personal education,
doing a bakery course and then going to cooking school. This was a very
personal choice for her, as she enjoyed cooking. She did also say,
“Indian wives and daughters-in-law are expected to be able to cook,”
but for Av, the study of cooking went much further than just getting
chicken vindaloo on the table for the evening meal. In between she also
worked as a teacher for the St Theresa Secretarial College, so she was
already showing the fact that she was an energetic young woman.
By this stage, the family had moved to Pattaya, where
her father had opened King’s Tailors in South Pattaya. “This was the
first tailor shop in Pattaya,” said Av, obviously proud of the fact, and
she also worked there in the family business. She is very appreciative of
the upbringing she received as well. “My father was a very modern man. I
grew up (in a family) with a very broad view. Not narrow minded at all.
They (her parents) encouraged me in every way.”
She met a young man, whose parents were also in the
Indian tailoring business (Jack’s International) and they began a very
long eight year courtship. This in itself was different from the norm for
Indian communities. “There is pressure on Indian girls to get
married,” explained Av, though this is prevalent in many ethnic
societies, I believe.
She was in her mid-twenties when she and Jack finally
got married and this produced an even busier life for Av. She now had two
tailor shops to work in! “It was a very busy time for me in that
transition and adjustment period.” She also continued to add to her own
skills, particularly in the cooking sphere. “I got tired of doing run of
the mill dishes,” so she went to India to do a culinary course with one
of the most eminent cooks there.
With the birth of her first son, life did not slow down
either. She was a mother, helped out in the shop and then went on business
trips abroad with her husband. Life was so hectic that she and her husband
decided to wait for a little time before having another baby. However,
after five years the maternal urge was too strong. Her second child was a
son and so was her third.
In between working in her husband’s business, she
began to hold Indian cooking classes eight years ago. These classes are
six weeks long and she has now had hundreds of graduates, mainly expat
ladies with an interest in cooking who would like to know how to put
chicken vindaloo on their dining room tables. But there was more in her
heart than just passing on her culinary skills. “I wanted to start a
restaurant.”
Planning for this new venture began some years ago, and
Av knew exactly where she wanted to position her Indian restaurant. “It
had to be fine dining. That’s our style. We want to be at the top. When
you do anything, you have to do it with passion.” It was also very easy
to see where Av’s passion lay too. “The menu is 100 percent my
work,” she said with an obvious pride. Having dined at Indian by Nature
I can attest to the variety offered in the menu, and the quality of the
food.
I commented on the fact that Av seems to have a very
active lifestyle. “Active? I’m too active!” she said with a laugh.
Her day begins with a work-out at the gym, five days a week, though she
admits that since the restaurant opened she has been getting there at
rather odd hours. She is also the vice-president of the Parent-Teacher
Association at the International School of the Eastern Seaboard (ISE) and
has been taking piano lessons, something she wanted to do as a young girl,
but the tutors were not available then. In case you think she might be
otherwise taking it easy, she still helps out in the tailor shop, and then
goes to the restaurant to ensure that this new business runs smoothly.
I asked Av what was her aim in life and she immediately
deflected this to be what she wanted for her children, saying she wanted
them to grow up to be happy with whatever careers they chose and to be
accomplished in whatever their choices were. I persevered, asking what was
‘her’ aim, to which she replied, “Right now I can’t think beyond
this restaurant, but I do want to be happy and I would like to travel and
maybe have a holiday?”
This very cosmopolitan and intelligent woman might have to wait just a
little while longer for that holiday, I fear, but it will be
well-deserved!
