ashokism...

Oct 28, 2026

One of the biggest curiosities of my childhood in Madurai was a giant, green-colored wheel that towered above the stone compound wall of the Madura Coats campus. As a child, I would often wonder what this enormous piece of machinery was and why it stood there. As I grew older, I assumed it must have been some old industrial equipment preserved as a relic of the past. However, I never really made an effort to find out its history.

On a recent visit to Madurai, as I drove past this familiar landmark, curiosity finally got the better of me. I decided it was time to discover the story behind the Big Wheel. What I learnt was fascinating. The giant wheel is part of what is believed to be the world’s first flywheel power plant, installed at Madura Coats in 1913. It was used to power the New Mills at Madurai for 48 years, until 1961. Today, in 2026, the remarkable machinery is 113 years old and continues to stand as a monument to the city’s industrial heritage. For generations of Madurai residents and mill workers, it has been a familiar landmark and a reminder of the city’s early industrial progress.

For me, it was one of those mysterious objects that formed the backdrop to my childhood, silently standing tall behind a compound wall - a childhood curiosity that has finally revealed a remarkable chapter of the city’s industrial past.

Oct 27, 2026

Madurai's first departmental store

One of the little excitements of my childhood in the 1980s was a cycle-rickshaw ride with my grandmother to Remuki Stores, somewhere along East Avani Moola Street, just a stone’s throw from the Meenakshi Amman Temple.

Founded around 1975–76 by a Gujarati Shah family, Remuki was a pioneer of the supermarket format in Madurai. At a time when the city’s shopping experience was largely dominated by traditional provision stores, Remuki offered something rather different.

This was where Grandma went to pick up a few "exotic groceries"—things that were not always easy to find elsewhere in the city. Remuki was the place to go for premium-quality groceries and imported products, giving it an air of sophistication that set it apart from the neighbourhood stores.

For me, though, the attraction went beyond groceries. A bar of Cadbury’s chocolate and a few Eclairs toffees were mandatory purchases on every visit! After all, a shopping trip with Grandma was not complete without a little something for the young accomplice tagging along.

Somewhere along the way, the original store shut its doors, taking with it a little piece of Madurai’s retail history. Its branch on 80 Feet Road in K.K. Nagar continues to survive, but for those of us who remember the original, it is merely a poor reminder of a once-popular city landmark.

Remuki today at kk nagar

Remuki Stores was more than just a place to shop. It was part of a childhood ritual—a cycle-rickshaw ride, an outing with Grandma, the discovery of unfamiliar goodies, and, of course, the irresistible promise of a Cadbury’s chocolate!