Slampo tries to figure out a mysterious feud
The Chronicle's Edward Hegstrom offered up this bit of storytelling today:
His financial problems have fanned a simmering feud in the Pakistani community that pits him against City Councilman M.J. Khan. Critics of Bombaywala make frequent reference to his bankruptcy, and they allege that his business practices reflect the way he runs the Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston, of which he serves as president.
The feud has not drawn attention outside the community, because much of it involves insider parliamentary issues around the management of PAGH. Bombaywala says that only a "small group" of Pakistanis have disagreed with him, and he dismisses their claims as mostly personal.
"I think our people enjoy all this rowdiness," he said of the ongoing feud. "We are very opinionated people."
But others say the feud has begun to have serious, lasting implications. The differences run so deep that the community could not come together to work on relief efforts after the recent earthquake in northern Pakistan and Kashmir. Bombaywala and Khan worked on separate efforts.
Leaders also have split over plans to build a multimillion-dollar Pakistan Community Center. Volunteers at PAGH have worked for more than a decade toward building a center designed to serve and unite the community. Bombaywala has continued the effort, but he parted ways with his predecessors on buying a former grocery store on Bissonnet — a move some in the Pakistani community did not support, because it involved taking out a large loan.
Kahn concedes the feud exists, but says he doesn't understand it. "I wish I knew what it is," the city councilman said.
Bombaywala's rise to success is practically legend in Houston. He came to the city in 1973 on a student visa with less than $50 cash, and was turned down for a dishwasher job at Michelangelo's in Montrose because he lacked sufficient English.
Years later, after finding success first with convenience stores and then with restaurants, Bombaywala bought Michelangelo's. (It is now officially owned by his son).
He bought or started 16 Marco's Mexican Restaurants and became a major investor in such chains as James Coney Island and Gugenheim's New York Deli. He has received numerous awards from such groups as the Asian Chamber of Commerce, the Asia Society and the University of Houston Law Center.
Bombaywala says his financial difficulties began with a business merger in the early 1990s that saddled him with roughly $17 million in hidden debt.
Watermarc Food Management Corp. declared bankruptcy in 1999. The company was reorganized as Five Star.
Five Star declared bankruptcy in 2003. Bombaywala filed his personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October.
The entire snippet above is contained under the heading "Dispute with Councilman."
The strangest thing is, the portion we've italicized has nothing to do with the dispute with the councilman, and the unitalicized reporting doesn't ever identify the dispute.
I read it early this morning, couldn't make much sense of it, and wrote it off as something probably caused by the Chronicle's stellar editors.
Enter Slampo, who may well have figured it all out. Even if not, it's an entertaining read.
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Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/09/06 10:57 PM | Print |
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