Skip to main content

Giri Traders Mylapore

Giri Traders Mylapore

Last week, during our “walk-and-shop-around-Mada-Veedhis” routine, we saw a North Indian couple frenetically searching for a Pooja-mani (bell). They were obviously searching at a wrong place. Overhearing their talk, I wanted to be a Good Samaritan and directed them in Hindi to visit the Giri Trading Agency at the Sannadhi Street nearby. Shortly afterwards, we too ambled across to this GITAA and could see the couple there with a satisfied and happy look.This mail is about Giri Trading Agency, GITAA for short.

There was this TVS Giri Iyer living in Matunga, Bombay. Year around 1951. He wished to gift a Sandhya Vandanam book to a upanayanam-boy but couldn’t get one in Matunga of those days. He got a brain wave then – why don’t I start a bookshop in Matunga that would have Tamil religious books? Thus started the tradition of Giri Trading Agency, in 1951. They used to purchase books in Madras and get them by parcel in Bombay.The shop started growing and they felt the need for their own shop at Madras from where they can get these books at a lesser cost.

Thus, in 1976, 25 years after the Bombay shop, they opened GITAA at Mylapore. Mr. TVS Giri had nine children and all of them put in hard and sincere work and the shop started growing exponentially.You name anything in Pooja items – from A to Z – you would find it in GITAA. Pooja items from a simple poonool or saradu kayiru to large idols, books – religious, devotional, in Tamil / Sanskrit, Music – CDs, cassettes, Gift Items ---- the list is endless. Suffice it to say that you won’t get disappointed any and every time you enter this shop.

The shop’s floor-space couldn’t cope with its phenomenal popularity, and till recently, it was extremely congested. Last year, they demolished the old building and started constructing a modern structure. Two months ago, this new multi-storied edifice opened and is functioning since then. Four floors of construction, centralized AC, very brightly lit, the shop is indeed a treat to buyers. And a wonderful and most sublime shopping experience.

As you push open the large glass door and enter the shop, you get the feeling that you are in a divine place, a temple. Delicious fragrance emanates from various pooja items and percolates all over the shop. Wow. Vijaya and I don’t miss experiencing it whenever we are in South Mada Veedhi – and that is quite frequent.

Last week or so we entered this shop to purchase a couple of (the key word is “a couple of “ ) Tamil story books for Anand (Srikanth). We were deluged with books and books and books and we ended up buying a whole lorry-load (of course, a joke) of them. (Needless to say, we obtained prior permission from Srikanth to indulge ourselves, ha ha). The point I want to make is – no one can escape buying this or that item (not earlier planned), the variety and availability is like that, a huge magnet attracting.

Finally, I would like to “introduce” the senior-most sales lady there – an Iyer mami of 56 – 58 years – extremely thin physically, but wow, what a lady! I may be wrong but I would bet she must have been there since its inception. (Is she related to the late Giri Iyer, I wonder. Ramamurthy athimber or Sugavanam can throw more light on this remarkable lady). She knows each and every item in the shop – available or not, if yes where they are located, if not when that is expected etc etc. Even a latest computer can not compete with this Mami, efficiency personified. For each and every customer (and the rest of the Sales crew) she is simply M A M I.

Next time when you are in Chennai, do visit this GITAA – I hope I have given sufficient material to arouse your curiosity – and be enthralled.I pray Giri Trading Agency to have many more successes.

Rajappa

8-45PM on 16 March 2007

Comments

  1. This is the best location to obtain books on our tradion and philosophy. One of the major attraction is that all the items are very reasonably priced within the reach of the common man.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kumar-Lalitha Sashti Aptha Poorthy

Kumar celebrated his Sashti Aptha Poorthy (60th birthday) on 03 June 2009 at Annanagar West. Rudra Ekadasi was performed at 05:00 AM; we didn't attend this. Ganesan had come from Mumbai on 2nd June afternoon 1:30 PM and he stayed with us. Ramani came by train on 2nd morning and he stayed with Lalitha at Avadi. On 3rd, we two and Ganesan took ARUN's car with a driver and went to Annanagar by 0815. The rituals were going on already. Indira, Sruthi, Akila, Raja, Aparna, Jyotsna were already there. Later, Saroja, Athimber came. Gayathri, Sowmya, Sriram came with Sudha and her inlaws in a calltaxi. Krithika came with Aditi in their car, with a driver. Arvind took ill suddenly, so he couldn't come. TSG and mami came. The function was a nice one; it was over by 1215 PM. After lunch all of us started leaving. We were home by 2-15PM. rajappa 11:00 am on 6 June 2009

TRVG's daughter's Marriage

TR Venugopal is known to us since 1971 from our Poona days. He is now Senior Accounts officer at DMRL, Hyderabad. He performed the marriage of his daughter JANANI with Natarajan at Nanganallur Chennai on Sunday, 10th July 2011. Vijaya and I attended it. Venugopal on the right, his wife Saraswathi on the left We left house at 6-10 AM in Wagon-R and reached the Rama Mandiram Kalyana Mandapam at Nanganallur by 6-50. The Mandapam is just next to the Anjaneyar Koil. There we met my former colleagues at ERDL Cell, DRDL Hyd. Ganesan, Nair, Jagadeesan, Saibaba, Subba Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy, S Venugopala Murthy, Venkataramaiah, Ramakrishnaiah, Kaleeswaran, Mohan Rao, Rangarajan etc; they had come with their wives. Ganesan and his wife Gomathi with us NAIR (behind Vijaya) his daughter PREETHI (next to Vijaya) Preethi's husband (Airforce, Agra) is also seen. Venkataramaiah, Srinivas Reddy, Ramakrishnaiah, ME, SVG Murthy, his wife Vijaya, Saibaba's wife, Saibaba Ramalakshmi, now a

Anna Centenary Library, Kotturpuram

ANNA CENTENARY LIBARARY (அண்ணா நூற்றாண்டு நூலகம்) is a newly established State Library of Tamilnadu. It was declared open on 15th Sept 2010. Located in Kotturpuram, Chennai. This last Sunday, 1st May 2011, we hit upon the idea - we will go and see this library. No serious reason, but a sudden whiff of fancy. Vijaya, her old classmate and friend Mrs Prema, and I left house at 3-30PM. A bus upto Madhya Kailash, and an auto thereon, left us at the gates of this huge, beautiful building at 4 PM. From the outside, it was immensely impressive and imposing - maybe of 9 or 10 floors, exquisitely constructed. As we walked the lawns to reach the Main Entrance, the interest in us was bubbling. (Caution: Handbags, Cameras are strictly prohibited. Even waterbottles are not allowed inside the halls.) There is a 5-feet bronze statue of Mr CN Annadurai, in whose name and honour this library is built. This is the Tamilnadu Chief minister Mr M Karunanidhi's pet project and he, as usual, has ov