Raja Street has been an important trading cum administrative hub for centuries. The local ruler’s abode, the iconic “Thermutti”, the Goddess Thermutti Koniamman's chariot parking space were situated in this ancient street.
Once upon a time, a Social Club existed in the property adjacent to the Thermutti and the locals used to entertain themselves at this place. The old Social Club has disappeared but the concrete bus shelter put up by the institution continues to provide shelter for the commuters who travel by the buses plying in the city.
Sree Chitra Stores established by A.P.Somasundaram is located in the neighborhood of this bus shelter from the year 1942.
“My father A.P.Somasundaram Chettiar belongs to an agrarian family and he used to live in the property belonging to the Jagirdar on Raja Street during his early days. It was just a shelter and not a home those days. He did not study much but was an intelligent person”.
“Sree Chitra Stores was established by him as a general goods cum stationary store in the year 1942. One of my sisters was named Chitra after the stores by the lady belonging to the Jagirdar family. He used to sell bangles, ribbons, kumkum,chaandhu etc., along with stationary items like notebooks, pencils, erasers, slates for writing, chalk pieces and textbooks. He was an old Congressperson, who believed in leading a simple life and had done much of field work for people like S.R.P.Ponnuswamy Chettiar and N.Mahalingam during the times of elections” says S.Murugesan, who happens to be the third son of A.P.Somasundaram Chettiar.
Talking to Simplicity S.Murugesan elaborated further:
“Our shop used to sell sugar that was part of the PDS (Public Distribution System or Ration System) for some time. Those were unique times when our 'town' was trying to reestablish itself by getting the kids educated. Our clients were the kids who studied at the Garadi School, Gandhi School, Training School, Maranna Gowder School, Union High School, Veeraswamy School Rama Rao School, St.Michaels School and Fatima Convent, “says Murugesan
A.P.Somasundaram was the son of Parameswaran Chettiar and he had been associated with the movie business for some years. He used to write dialogues for movies and participate in the production by directing them. A number of people had worked under him and had become big in life. The profits from the movie business gave him enough resources to buy a Ford car and it used to be parked near the Thermutti. He had worked in the movie field at a time when they considered it to be part of mainstream business. A number of movie spools had been with him for years. He lived with his wife Dethammal and 8 kids on Sami Iyer New Street all his life. The family continues to live in the same house.
“Father was a well informed and hard working person who used to work for more than 12 hours a day. He used to attend to all his customers personally. The support staff was only helpers who followed his instructions physically. Long ago the schools just prescribed books and publishers promoted their sales by visiting the schools and shops like ours. We used to stock the books and sell. All of it was just counter sales and institutional sales were nil. In spite of making money in the movie world by father stopped all movie-related activities at the time of his second marriage to my mother. He used to wear a 'Nalu Muzham Veshti' and a silk khadar jubba every day. However, while attending to his work in the shop he just wore a khadar munda banian. Work used to be hectic and during the school season, he used to work until midnight. My mother used to bring food for all of us from home for we used to be at the shop. All of us studied in the schools nearby and it was a time when these low-cost schools offered quality education. Father used to pray at the Theppakulam Temple, Ramar Temple, and Vinayagar Temple very briefly and used to come to work. He was literally wedded to the shop," added S.Murugesan.
"All the jewelers, merchants from the Pettai area and its vicinity were customers of Sree Chitra Stores run by A.P.Somasundaram and he was one who would never state that a book was not available for he used to somehow get it for his clients. Prince and pauper were alike for him. The residents of the agraharam used to tell their kids to seek his blessings while getting the books from A.P.Somasundaram. He had an intricate knowledge of the textbooks, syllabus etc., and could instantly handle a situation. He had mastered the entire field and could apply his knowledge in a jiffy. He believed in working all by himself and used his support staff minimally. Money was not everything for A.P.Somasundaram and he had left behind two properties only for his family which consisted of his sons Balaskandan, Arumugham, Murugesan, Parameswaran and four daughters".
“All the landlords from Perur onwards and even from Velliangiri adivaram used to come to our shop to buy Aligarh locks. Many of them used to sponsor books and notebooks along with uniform for the children of their farmhands year on year. They used to visit the nearby Original Viswanatha Iyer's shop nearby in order to have jalebis, karam and coffee before shopping with us. Father was the one who opened the store or closed it for the day and the shop measured 26 by 10 feet from the start. It was the publisher’s era and only after 1967 did the Tamilnadu Textbook Society or Corporation as it’s called now came into the picture.
”The friendships of those times were very clean and did not have a motive. In fact, our ration petrol was given to our friends only. Father used to replace the sold stock every day before going home. His intellectual capital was acquired through hard work and experience. All the shopkeepers used to work with family and it gave them enormous satisfaction. From opening a parcel to stacking to sales and packing it for the students to collecting cash was done by him only” Murugesan said.
“ He was a happy and contended person throughout. Along with P.Janardhanan Chettiar of Mangala Vilas Javuli Kadai, my father used to participate in the flag hoisting ceremony on behalf of the Parents Teachers Association for years at the Chathram School (Cochin Dewan Nanjappier premises) in Raja Street. We sold a number of titles written by Balakrishna Naidu and' Danaicken Kottai' by him was very famous and people want to purchase the book even today. Academicians like Sargunam of Union High School and Michael Ponnuswamy were well known to him and they used to visit our shop regularly," stated S.Murugesan who manages Chitra Publishers and Distributors.
The third generation including Gokul Krishnan and Gopalakrishnan are in business. Since the last forty-five years or so Sree Chitra Stores has been selling college books too. The family is now running Sri Gokul Publishers, Sri Sailoo Publishers and is in the process of moving to their own space shortly. Hariharan from the Coffee Board and Vakkil C.P.Kandaswamy (Criminal Lawyer) were quite close to A.P.Somasundaram. He was quite close to all the traders of the Pettai area. Shopkeepers like A.P.Somasundaram had set the work culture which made the city smart and prosperous.