Nonagerian V.Krishnan is slightly hard of hearing but his memory is very sharp. This former retail salesperson moves around with the aid of a walker. The customers who used to visit the silver outlet belonging to the P.A.Raju Chettiar family used to like his approach. " I joined work in the year 1944 and was paid Rs.40 per month as salary those days. A Rupee sized silver coin used to cost 6 annas. About 86 coins used to add up to a kilogram. Business used to be brisk and our sales were fully billed. Our store never indulged in ' black money ' transactions. The store cashier V.R.M.Ramalingam happened to be the brother in law of Chettiar. We were all ' gumasthas ' who attended to sales, billing and purchases. Inventory management was left with us. Business used to be great those days. Ours was the biggest silverware outlet in this part of the country. Chettiar ( PAR ) ensured that we had a very huge inventory. Large silver bars were stocked in big numbers. Customers came from all parts of the south, " stated V.Krishnan who hails from Para near Palakkad. He was born to Venkatarama Chettiar and Balamma. He had moved to Coimbatore after his schooling. His other colleagues had been Kandan Chettiar, Sadagopa Aiyya, Chinnaswamy Aiyya, Ponnappan and many others.
Nonagerian V.Krishnan is slightly hard of hearing but his memory is very sharp. This former retail salesperson moves around with the aid of a walker. The customers who used to visit the silver outlet belonging to the P.A.Raju Chettiar family used to like his approach. " I joined work in the year 1944 and was paid Rs.40 per month as salary those days. A Rupee sized silver coin used to cost 6 annas. About 86 coins used to add up to a kilogram. Business used to be brisk and our sales were fully billed. Our store never indulged in ' black money ' transactions. The store cashier V.R.M.Ramalingam happened to be the brother in law of Chettiar. We were all ' gumasthas ' who attended to sales, billing and purchases. Inventory management was left with us. Business used to be great those days. Ours was the biggest silverware outlet in this part of the country. Chettiar ( PAR ) ensured that we had a very huge inventory. Large silver bars were stocked in big numbers. Customers came from all parts of the south, " stated V.Krishnan who hails from Para near Palakkad. He was born to Venkatarama Chettiar and Balamma. He had moved to Coimbatore after his schooling. His other colleagues had been Kandan Chettiar, Sadagopa Aiyya, Chinnaswamy Aiyya, Ponnappan and many others.
The 102 year old business P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother ( 1917 ) had a silver division those days. The firm had an exclusive anklet store right next door. Commerce was booming in Coimbatore due to the efforts of local entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs generated employment. Therefore this situation encouraged P.A.Raju Chettiar ( PAR ) to open a separate silver store which functioned as a branch of his original firm ( 1938 ). By then P.A.Raju Chettiar became the highest tax paying jeweler in the Madras Presidency. D.V.Subbachar, the family Auditor of PAR suggested that he spin off the silver business into a separate firm in order to save tax. Therefore the first son, P.A.R.Krishnan was made the owner of the new silver firm which came to known as P.A.Raju Chettiar Son on the 1 st of May 1945. The rose wood furniture for the silver store had been made at the P.S.G.Industrial Institute. It was embellished with Belgian glass and silver fittings.
" We used to sell silverware, pooja idols, lamps, zamindar jugs, silver kavachams and gift articles in the store. Vendors from Belgaum, Kolhapur, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kumbakonam used to supply goods. We used to pay them in silver bullion. Coimbatore was never a silver manufacturing centre. Silver anklets used to be made locally but eventually Salem took over fully. All the top people of this region used to shop with us. Customers came from Thrissur, Palakkad, Erode, Udumalpet, Gobi, Karur, Tirupur, Polllachi Sathyamangalam etc., for shopping. The Brahmins of Palakkad and Western Tamilnadu were our important clients. Women from all the zamindari and mill owner families were our clients. The family of Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar, Sundara Bai Ammal ( wife of A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar ), V.Krishnammal ( wife of G.Venkataswamy Naidu of Lakshmi Mills ), B.R.Ranganayaki Ammal ( Rajalakshmi Mills ), G.R.G. Chandrakanthi Ammal, the family of C.V.Bashyam Iyengar and ladies from a number of mill owning and land owning families were also our clients. The store used to supply silver dinner sets by the hundreds to Brooke Bond. The company used to gift a silver dinner set to employees who had completed 25 years of service. We supplied silver chains for the swings used by the wealthy in their houses. The elite used to store drinking water in huge silver utensils and we specialized in the same. Our clients used to send their writers or drivers along with instructions and we used to deliver the items to them. Our ledger had the names of all VIPs. Orders were also processed. If I remember right we made more than 60 similar looking silver plates for the Sashtiabdhapoorthy of G.R.Govindarajulu in 1979. Chandrakanthi Amma used to have a high regard for Chettiar, " smiled V.Krishnan who came to be known as Para V.Krishnan. He was also known after his native place ' Para '.
V.Krishnan and his colleagues used to ' door deliver ' stuff in the houses of clients. The mill owning families used to instruct the cashier in the mill office to settle the bill and it would be done. Therefore Krishnan used to visit the mill offices for collection. On another occasion a violent incident had taken place in one of the villages at the time of his visit. However the client had ensured his safety. Those were times when clients used to pledge their silverware with pawn shops. The pawn shop owners used to mark the utensils with not so easily erasable ink. Sometimes the clients used to retrieve the items and sell them or exchange the same for new items. On observation, Krishnan and his colleagues used to understand that the item had been pledged. They used to communicate among themselves in a humourous manner by stating that ' This silver item seems to have gone to school ' !
" Sundaram, Kumaraswamy, K.K.Pandarinathan and myself used to carry huge quantities of gold jewellery to Mumbai on behalf of the parent firm P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother. We went by train and it would take two and a half days. Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and other big shops were our clients. Bangles, chains etc., were carried by us in boxes. Our travelling team used to consist of 3 members. Each one of us used to tether ourselves to one box which contained about 10 kilograms of jewellery. The boss of Tribhovandas used to visit Coimbatore and state that while he was Number One in the north, P.A.Raju Chettiar was Number One in the south. Those were the days. We used to return by flight to Coimbatore. I had made 80 such trips to Mumbai before 1956 and was rewarded Rs.4000 as a cash incentive. We had a teleprinter in the shop for it helped the bosses to understand the movement of bullion rates.P.A.R.Viswanathan Chettiar & P.A.R.Krishnan Chettiar did a lot in connection with the bullion business. Buying in our store was considered to be very lucky. Those days the owner of a leading jewellery firm ( now a big chain of jewellery stores ) in Kerala used to make the first family purchase with Chettiar whenever it was marriage time in his family. A number of aristocratic families sold their family silver during the socialistic era. Many lovely items had to be put into the furnace. Lots of silver heritage got lost during those tumultuous times. Some pieces were retained by our bosses, " added V.Krishnan.
A Zamindar from Kerala used to melt his dhoti zari and make silver items for his family. Once, he had made a cash box with a silver knob. The knob was encrusted with a Nagaaz Ganesha. The Aravinda Ganapathy ( Ganesha on the Lotus ) continues to be among the best among pieces. The Zamindar had to part with it one day and he sold it at P.A.Raju Chettiar Son.
The business had been managed with a lot of social consciousness. There used to one portrait of Lord Subramaniam with a hundi on a pillar. PAR and others used to drop some money into it everyday. Once it got filled up, the hundi was opened and the cash was used for Annadanam at the Marudamalai Murugan Temple. V.Krishnan recalls the store giving away a packet of cooked food to the financially downtrodden on every Saturday. The number of packets used to equal the age of his boss. Free lunch tokens were given to the needy everyday.
" I used to visit the residences of industrialists in order to weigh the silverware and jewellery in their houses. Cars used to pick us up and drop us. We used to be treated very well. Huge number of silver coins were made by us for mills which were celebrating their jubilees. If I remember right we had made a very large number of gold coins for the Golden Jubilee of Lakshmi Mills. The sixties and seventies of the last century saw the advent of a lot of black money and slowly business began to change hands. However the stuff sold by us was the best in the country. My colleague, Ponnappan lived by the dictum - A place for everything and everything in its place. Many of the gumasthas used snuff and also ate snacks that were sold by the ' thooku thookis ' of the town area. Krishnammal ( wife of G.Venkataswamy Naidu ) was a kind lady and she used to tip us at the time of Diwali. Once I climbed a coconut tree to deliver cash to P.A.R.Viswanathan Chettiar. His wife Indrani Amma received it from me ! I was a gold loan appraiser too. K.Govindarajulu, the grandson of Chettiar was always kind and helpful. I left service nearly 30 years ago but I have been thinking of my days of service with the family of P.A.Raju Chettiar everyday. The ' Golden Age ' of the jewellery business in Coimbatore was ushered in by him, " spoke V.Krishnan while offering a murukku during the course of the conversation. V.Krishnan is married to Sarswathi and couple are blessed with 5 kids. His sons Ramesh and Ravi are independent businessmen.
Para V.Krishnan belonged to rare tribe of gumasthas who had served the clients with a smile. Coimbatore is a nationally famous shopping centre of the highest order because of his ilk.
The 102 year old business P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother ( 1917 ) had a silver division those days. The firm had an exclusive anklet store right next door. Commerce was booming in Coimbatore due to the efforts of local entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs generated employment. Therefore this situation encouraged P.A.Raju Chettiar ( PAR ) to open a separate silver store which functioned as a branch of his original firm ( 1938 ). By then P.A.Raju Chettiar became the highest tax paying jeweler in the Madras Presidency. D.V.Subbachar, the family Auditor of PAR suggested that he spin off the silver business into a separate firm in order to save tax. Therefore the first son, P.A.R.Krishnan was made the owner of the new silver firm which came to known as P.A.Raju Chettiar Son on the 1 st of May 1945. The rose wood furniture for the silver store had been made at the P.S.G.Industrial Institute. It was embellished with Belgian glass and silver fittings.
" We used to sell silverware, pooja idols, lamps, zamindar jugs, silver kavachams and gift articles in the store. Vendors from Belgaum, Kolhapur, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kumbakonam used to supply goods. We used to pay them in silver bullion. Coimbatore was never a silver manufacturing centre. Silver anklets used to be made locally but eventually Salem took over fully. All the top people of this region used to shop with us. Customers came from Thrissur, Palakkad, Erode, Udumalpet, Gobi, Karur, Tirupur, Polllachi Sathyamangalam etc., for shopping. The Brahmins of Palakkad and Western Tamilnadu were our important clients. Women from all the zamindari and mill owner families were our clients. The family of Diwan Bahadur C.S.Rathinasabapathy Mudaliar, Sundara Bai Ammal ( wife of A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar ), V.Krishnammal ( wife of G.Venkataswamy Naidu of Lakshmi Mills ), B.R.Ranganayaki Ammal ( Rajalakshmi Mills ), G.R.G. Chandrakanthi Ammal, the family of C.V.Bashyam Iyengar and ladies from a number of mill owning and land owning families were also our clients. The store used to supply silver dinner sets by the hundreds to Brooke Bond. The company used to gift a silver dinner set to employees who had completed 25 years of service. We supplied silver chains for the swings used by the wealthy in their houses. The elite used to store drinking water in huge silver utensils and we specialized in the same. Our clients used to send their writers or drivers along with instructions and we used to deliver the items to them. Our ledger had the names of all VIPs. Orders were also processed. If I remember right we made more than 60 similar looking silver plates for the Sashtiabdhapoorthy of G.R.Govindarajulu in 1979. Chandrakanthi Amma used to have a high regard for Chettiar, " smiled V.Krishnan who came to be known as Para V.Krishnan. He was also known after his native place ' Para '.
V.Krishnan and his colleagues used to ' door deliver ' stuff in the houses of clients. The mill owning families used to instruct the cashier in the mill office to settle the bill and it would be done. Therefore Krishnan used to visit the mill offices for collection. On another occasion a violent incident had taken place in one of the villages at the time of his visit. However the client had ensured his safety. Those were times when clients used to pledge their silverware with pawn shops. The pawn shop owners used to mark the utensils with not so easily erasable ink. Sometimes the clients used to retrieve the items and sell them or exchange the same for new items. On observation, Krishnan and his colleagues used to understand that the item had been pledged. They used to communicate among themselves in a humourous manner by stating that ' This silver item seems to have gone to school ' !
" Sundaram, Kumaraswamy, K.K.Pandarinathan and myself used to carry huge quantities of gold jewellery to Mumbai on behalf of the parent firm P.A.Raju Chettiar & Brother. We went by train and it would take two and a half days. Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and other big shops were our clients. Bangles, chains etc., were carried by us in boxes. Our travelling team used to consist of 3 members. Each one of us used to tether ourselves to one box which contained about 10 kilograms of jewellery. The boss of Tribhovandas used to visit Coimbatore and state that while he was Number One in the north, P.A.Raju Chettiar was Number One in the south. Those were the days. We used to return by flight to Coimbatore. I had made 80 such trips to Mumbai before 1956 and was rewarded Rs.4000 as a cash incentive. We had a teleprinter in the shop for it helped the bosses to understand the movement of bullion rates.P.A.R.Viswanathan Chettiar & P.A.R.Krishnan Chettiar did a lot in connection with the bullion business. Buying in our store was considered to be very lucky. Those days the owner of a leading jewellery firm ( now a big chain of jewellery stores ) in Kerala used to make the first family purchase with Chettiar whenever it was marriage time in his family. A number of aristocratic families sold their family silver during the socialistic era. Many lovely items had to be put into the furnace. Lots of silver heritage got lost during those tumultuous times. Some pieces were retained by our bosses, " added V.Krishnan.
A Zamindar from Kerala used to melt his dhoti zari and make silver items for his family. Once, he had made a cash box with a silver knob. The knob was encrusted with a Nagaaz Ganesha. The Aravinda Ganapathy ( Ganesha on the Lotus ) continues to be among the best among pieces. The Zamindar had to part with it one day and he sold it at P.A.Raju Chettiar Son.
The business had been managed with a lot of social consciousness. There used to one portrait of Lord Subramaniam with a hundi on a pillar. PAR and others used to drop some money into it everyday. Once it got filled up, the hundi was opened and the cash was used for Annadanam at the Marudamalai Murugan Temple. V.Krishnan recalls the store giving away a packet of cooked food to the financially downtrodden on every Saturday. The number of packets used to equal the age of his boss. Free lunch tokens were given to the needy everyday.
" I used to visit the residences of industrialists in order to weigh the silverware and jewellery in their houses. Cars used to pick us up and drop us. We used to be treated very well. Huge number of silver coins were made by us for mills which were celebrating their jubilees. If I remember right we had made a very large number of gold coins for the Golden Jubilee of Lakshmi Mills. The sixties and seventies of the last century saw the advent of a lot of black money and slowly business began to change hands. However the stuff sold by us was the best in the country. My colleague, Ponnappan lived by the dictum - A place for everything and everything in its place. Many of the gumasthas used snuff and also ate snacks that were sold by the ' thooku thookis ' of the town area. Krishnammal ( wife of G.Venkataswamy Naidu ) was a kind lady and she used to tip us at the time of Diwali. Once I climbed a coconut tree to deliver cash to P.A.R.Viswanathan Chettiar. His wife Indrani Amma received it from me ! I was a gold loan appraiser too. K.Govindarajulu, the grandson of Chettiar was always kind and helpful. I left service nearly 30 years ago but I have been thinking of my days of service with the family of P.A.Raju Chettiar everyday. The ' Golden Age ' of the jewellery business in Coimbatore was ushered in by him, " spoke V.Krishnan while offering a murukku during the course of the conversation. V.Krishnan is married to Sarswathi and couple are blessed with 5 kids. His sons Ramesh and Ravi are independent businessmen.
Para V.Krishnan belonged to rare tribe of gumasthas who had served the clients with a smile. Coimbatore is a nationally famous shopping centre of the highest order because of his ilk.