In conversation with Ashok

The First Shop on 8th Cross

My name is Ashok. The shop was established in 1948 by my father, and it's been running ever since. It's probably the 76th or 77th year now. You can safely say that this is the oldest commercial establishment in Malleswaram. We were the first to start on 8th Cross. Before that, 8th Cross was not a commercial area at all. But after we started, a lot of other shops came up and other complexes followed. Today, 8th Cross is probably the busiest area in the whole of Malleswaram.

When Everybody Knew Everybody

In 1948, Malleswaram was a small place. Almost everybody knew everybody. Today it's different. Today, we have more outsiders than residents of Malleswaram who come shopping with us. Among our old-time customers, most of them have grown old. In 90% of the cases, their children go abroad, they don't settle down here. They probably come once a year and then go back, either to the U.S. or Australia or U.K. So our profile of customers has changed completely. There are no more people residing permanently in Malleswaram. It's mostly outsiders now.

Four Pairs of Pants, Four Pairs of Shirts

Older people have very few requirements. When a person gets old, if he has four pairs of pants and four pairs of shirts, it will see him through his lifetime. The older people do visit us, but there are very few purchases unless there's some function at home or they're giving something to somebody. For their own needs, they have limited requirements. I know all the old families, but the point is they all stay abroad now. They visit once a year and they leave, but we do have that personal connection with them.

The profile of customers has changed—we're getting more people who are not staying in Malleswaram shopping with us than the original residents. Naturally, once you know somebody, it's a different experience in the shop. They're known to us, we're known to them. But when a customer walks in who is unknown, it becomes more about selling an item rather than the connection you may have with them.

Fifty-Five Years Behind the Counter

I've been running the shop for 55 years now, since 1970. For me personally, this was the base. I did expand into many other things—we had a plastic factory, we went into exports, we went into wholesale. Having expanded into all that, this was still the base. We did not ignore this; it was very much there. Our exports business had its own problems. Being alone, it was very difficult to handle because we were always chasing dates. Somewhere down the line, if there is a delay, it falls on you. We did it well, but the pressure of work was too much. At one point, we decided to end that and focus just on this shop.

School by 5:30, Shop by 6

I was born and brought up here. We used to stay in a place called Shekharapuram, just two kilometers from here. We stayed there for over 60 years. Recently, in the last 4-5 years, I shifted to a place next to Mount Carmel College. My childhood wasn't easy, but it wasn't too tough either. You had to finish school by 5-5:30, then come and stand behind the counters in the shop by 6 o'clock. Those days, shops used to close by 9, so you'd hang around till 9 till the shop closed, then go home. You had very little time to catch up with homework and things like that.

My father came from undivided India, so he had very limited capital. He put in a lot of work, and we had to supplement. I was the only boy in the family, so we had to finish school, come and attend the shop, then go back and study. A lot of my time was spent in the shop, so it became almost like a home to me.

Unless You Enjoy Your Work

Unless you enjoy your work, you can never make it a success. You have to enjoy what you're doing to make it successful. For me to continue in the same business for over 60 years, I had to enjoy the work. I treat this as a place of work, but it also helps me connect with people and make new friends. That makes it enjoyable—meeting new people as well as older friends.

Mixed Feelings About Change

I have mixed feelings about the changes in Malleswaram. In a way, it's good that the entire market has expanded. But it is also a disadvantage because the business gets divided, and the profile of customers changes. For a new customer, a shop is like any other shop—there's no personal affinity or loyalty towards it. But keeping business apart, the changes in the neighborhood have been good. Malleswaram is a beautiful place. It's been nice. There have been a lot of eateries coming up, a lot of changes, but the charm is still there.

More Eateries, Fewer Textile Shops

You see very few textile shops opening now. It's more eateries and jewelry shops. If you look at the jewelry shops from Gandhi Bazaar market, you'll find more than 60 jewelry shops. We have the most business during Diwali. Walk-ins have reduced—not just with us, but with everybody. So you have to supplement that, substitute that business with something else. We don't do online business. It is possible, but it's a different setup altogether. It may not be feasible with this existing setup—it requires separate arrangements for packing, logistics, returns.