Prince of Vienna!!

By : Jithin Raghavan 

Renowned are those Malayali’s who inhibit foreign culture into their lifestyle. But, we seldom come to know of someone who has pioneered a new culture outside his country. Let us meet one such person. The man who introduced the festival that makes every summer in the city of Vienna beyond awesome. His name is Prince Pallikunnel, hailing from the city of Malappuram. 

Midway through the season when the heat reaches its maximum, the city of Vienna develops a festive mood under the leadership of Prince. This has been the scene for the past eleven years. The streets play host to a small ‘world get-together’ with people storming in from every nook and corner with their songs and dance numbers. And to add grandeur to the event, cuisines of all kinds are made available here. The festival named ‘Strassenfest’ fills the mob with a feeling of joy unbound.

Prince is the director of PROSI, the first ever exotic supermarket in Vienna. It is often said that one can find a malayali at every other place in this world, intending pun of course. But then, it is more than difficult to sow the seeds of success on a foreign soil. PROSI reminds us that hard work and determination may not suffice to succeed. Politeness, Respect, Obedience, Service and Intimacy are equally important ingredients for a business to prosper. Back in the year 1999, PROSI was born with all this. For some ten years now, PROSI has taken on the daunting task of bringing the taste of home to the foreign-born people living in Austria, and introducing Austrians to the food of the world.

Born into an ordinary family, it was while pursuing his teaching career (after completing his M.com) that he got the chance to do his higher studies in Austria. After two years since his arrival in the country, he along with a friend of his put up a stall that sold Indian perfumes, vegetables and newspapers. Seeing the immediate success, he started a restaurant as well, which turned out to be a failure. He tried his luck creating a travel agency. The result, sadly, was no different. But, these failures proved to be the very stepping stones to his future success.

What happens in a normal scenario is, when someone comes to a foreign country as a student and finds all his attempts at different ventures ending as failures, he curses himself and the place, and thinks of nothing but returning home. On the contrary, Prince, having learnt a thousand lessons from every single failure he made, and acquiring strength from each of them, built up the first ever exotic supermarket that stands out as the biggest and most useful of its kind in the country. At the age of twenty five, when he flew to Vienna, the only thing he had with him was his master’s degree. But the courage in him to face situations and immense self belief always came to his aid.

The lack of food from home led him to open a shop for Indian products. Apart from being a supermarket, PROSI today is a part of everyone’s daily life in Vienna. For anyone curious about food, though, it is more than fine; it is a treasure trove. Nearly six thousand products from over sixty countries are being sold here. Eateries from around the world are available. People hailing from Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh and Africa are also employers here. Providing native food, PROSI restaurant aims at instilling that warmth of ‘being at home’ to those who leave home and come here looking to prosper in life. In a kitchen at the back of the store, international cooking classes are offered every Saturday.  Once you are inside this chamber you in terms of cuisine can travel from Cameroon to Bhutan, Malaysia to Bolivia, and Madagascar to Myanmar. 

The smell of the kitchen wafts through the supermarket, bringing a memory of home, or a dream of adventure. And needless to say, Indian food finds maximum demand. This also serves as a platform for foreigners to learn and try their hands at the Indian cuisine. The street festival organized by PROSI twice a year is greeted with much enthusiasm. Around fifty odd artists perform in the cultural extravaganza organized along with it. The food festival arranged is equally welcome. Apart from these, yoga and dance classes find places in the festival, which prove to be added bonuses in portraying our culture to the outside world.

A dominating presence in the art and culture in Vienna, Prince established an organization ‘Kala Vienna’ to help enhance international culture in the country. He has served as the representative of Indian World Chamber of Commerce in Austria and the World Malayali Council President. A man of utmost passion in every single thing he does, Prince has done more than a great deal in portraying not only our culture, but a variety of International cultures to Austria. The least we can say is that he has been given a befitting name – PRINCE!!