A charged brigade

IT WAS more an informal chat than a regular interview. The way the entire group enthusiastically reeled out details about the business, the family, their toil and the fruits of labour, made it clear that success has come to Giri Trading Agency (GTA), Mylapore, not merely through industry but through the unity of the close knit family. Family that includes not its immediate members alone but its employees too.

What began as a small outlet for religious books in Chennai in 1976, has today grown into a complete storehouse of anything and everything connected with Hinduism.

But it all began in Matunga, Mumbai, in the 1950s when T.V.S. Giri decided to start the business of buying and selling books through a tiny outlet, T.S.V. Hari, the eldest of the Giri brothers and chairman and managing director of the firm, tells us. He is the first of the nine children of T.V.S. Giri. And interestingly all of them, except Iyyappan who passed away recently, are actively involved in one way or the other with the business. So from humble beginnings, GTA is a private limited company today. "I am a journalist myself," smiles Hari, as he takes you round the shop. He got into the business at a much later date. The Giris for the past decade, have been taking care of the monthly magazine, Kamakoti. The firm took on the task of publishing Kamakoti on the request of Jayendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Kamakoti mutt. "Most of our subscribers are in Mumbai," says V. Subramaniam, a manager with GTA. The pride in his voice speaks volumes.

Therein lies another speciality of Giri Trading Agency. Every employee, you hear, knows about each product on display, be it books, icons, puja articles, cassettes, or CDs.

"You enter Giris and ask for anything - say a cassette - and the staff give you the entire information about it, suggest a better cassette sometimes, sing the numbers for you and help you make a good choice", a regular customer of their tells you. "Another characteristic is that from the second visit, they know you by face and make you feel important and pleased", she adds. This customer-friendly approach seems to be working wonders for GTA.

Their customers are spread all over the globe. If you wish to build a temple anywhere, this one-stop shop offers everything from the most trivial to the most significant.

The neatly arranged collection of religious books, translations and transliterations is a big draw. "However modern the city gets, religious fervour is on the increase, even among our younger lot," says Subramaniam.

"That explains the steady flow of customers at the shop", adds E. Balu, a family member and manager, GTA. Along with Srinivasan, brother of Hari, they form an enthusiastic team.

Hari says that even in a small item like the rudraksha mala, there could be fakes. The shop sees to it that its customers do not get cheated.

GTA has a couple of more branches in Mumbai now. Two of the brothers, Viswanathan and Ramnarayan, hold fort there.

From publishing and puja articles, the Giris have made a foray into the cassette world too. Gitaa cassettes, a part of GTA, has come out with various devotional numbers and again everything from slokas to mantras for special occasions are all available here.

"We are the extremely religious kind, and as our business is also on the subject, our involvement is immense," says Meenakshi Balu, another member of the family, whose penchant for writing has found its way to the bookshelves of the showroom. "We have imbibed our religious ideas from our mom", says Meenakshi adding a touch of sentiment to the conversation.

Going global is the ultimate goal of the Giri group and they are working towards it. "All of us slog it out here... this is the place we spend most of our time in," says the youngest of the lot, T.S. Ranganathan, whose voice (familiar to television viewers) is a well-utilised asset of GTA. The making of the cassette, with recordings and voice overs in tact, are taken care of by Ranganathan and wife Sushama. As you leave the premises, Subramaniam tells you, "Our panchangams are a high point... we have all the kinds that exist." "And also our yanthras", adds Meenakshi.

The list is endless. Their enthusiasm is boundless. Work is worship for them, they say. Naturally - literally and figuratively.

MALATHI RANGARAJAN

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