One of my fondest childhood memories from the early 1980s is of making frequent little expeditions to a local stationery and fancy shop called Ceylon City Stores. It was a corner shop located about 500 metres from my home (on Melaponnagaram 12th Street), at the junction of Motilal Main Road and Bharathiyar Street in Karimedu, Madurai.
The shop was run by a family who, if my memory serves me right, had migrated from Ceylon, possibly following the civil unrest there.For us schoolkids, Ceylon City Stores was nothing short of a magic house. From colored chart paper for a school project to Paints, brushes, and art supplies.. They had everything!I vividly remember buying my first Camelin Geometry box here. I even remember buying my first Hero pen here!Whatever the teacher had demanded for next morning’s project — usually announced at the last possible minute — this shop seemed to have it all. It was the place that rescued countless students from the parental question, “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
In those days, the early 1980s, such well-stocked shops were a rarity outside Madurai’s main town area. The store was equally popular with ladies, who could find cosmetics and all sorts of household essentials there. In short, it was a one-stop shop for schoolchildren and homemakers!
Fast-forward nearly five decades, and nostalgia struck me out of the blue. I decided to take a random virtual trip down memory lane using Google Earth. To my utter delight, Ceylon City Stores was still there — apparently standing firm against the march of time, changing shopping habits, and the arrival of online retail!
What a wonderful surprise! While many of our childhood landmarks have disappeared, this little neighbourhood store seems to have mastered the art of survival. I wonder if the same family still runs it..
Perhaps some things never change. Teachers still assign projects, children still remember them at the eleventh hour, and somewhere in Karimedu, Ceylon City Stores may still be ready to save the day!
Some shops sell stationery. Others quietly store a lifetime of memories
