This one room shop is near the Kottayam Collectorate and very near the Kottayam East Police Station.on the left side of the KK road from Kottayam to Kumily. Owned by Mr Muhammed, he runs the shop assisted by his four children Najeeb, Nazeeb, Mujib and Azeeb.
In 1987 Susan and I started our life in a rented house behind the K.A Stores. Those days the four children I mentioned above were kids. Azee might not have even arrived. Then they were not mature enough to do business. I remember the foursome coming to the shop one by one at regular intervals of 2 or 3 years to help Mr Muhammed. There was a person called Babu working in the shop. Like Muhammed, Babu too was from Kannur. Those days the electronic balance was not in use. Be it rice, sugar, tea, dal, oil or whatever Babu had to manually weigh it on the beam balance. He was such an expert in weighing that the beam never tilted in favour of the customer nor in favour of Muhammed. And this he did with amazing speed.
When Renjan was a small baby it was very difficult to feed him. He would never open his mouth .We would take him to what eventually came to be known as"Babuvetta kada" and show the busses and other vehicles and feed him without his knowledge. Still it took a long time to finish a bowl of Ragi with milk and sugar. I remember telling him this once "Mon you should complete this at least by the time this Mundakkayam bus comes back. (Mundakkayam is some 50 km from Kottayam). One day Babu told me in typical Kannur slang " Sar Ente Maeri-yaege aanu". Babu left some 18 years ago but still for us K A Stores is Babukkada or Babuvetta Kada.That is how I have saved it on my mobile.
During the second half of nineties margin free shops were mushrooming in Kerala with all those question marks and exclamation marks as trade mark. One fine morning one such thing sprouted adjacent to K A Stores The scenes next were heart breaking for Mr Muhammed and me too. Every single customer shifted loyalty and K A Stores wore a deserted look. Probably I was the only one to go there as usual. The row of parked vehicles extended up to the Plantation corporation head quarters. Those days I used to wonder how people can so easily abandon a place they have been visiting almost every day for years. But then, margins matter ! This went on for months together.
Najib the eldest of the four sons of Mr Muhammed was then in some gulf country. He returned and took charge of the shop. With his golden tongue and pleasing manners that reflected his honesty, he could win back a sizable chunk of those who went after question marks and exclamation marks. Full marks to Najeeb !
By 1995 we shifted to our newly constructed home in the Annan Kunnu, some 2 km from the K A Stores. But we still go there for our grocery and vegetable requirements. We have some 3 or 4 supermarkets within 1 km , the biggest being just 200 meters away. But at K A Stores we are very much at home. Not that I am averse to getting a commodity at a lesser price. I cannot buy a thing from a person sitting with a stiff neck, locked lips and suspecting eyes all the time. At K A Stores I even developed an exclusive communication language. Once I went there with Pradeep (2000 MSc batch) and I told Najeeb," Kolu Kalu,Kannan Ara, Njali onnu". Pradeep stared at me with wide opened eyes. His eyes grew wider when within 2 minutes I got 250 gm of Drumstick, 500 gm of Kannan Devan tea and 1 Kg of Njalippoovan Pazham (plantain fruit)
It is 26 years now since we have been shopping at the K A Stores. If there is something like customer satisfaction, I am more than satisfied. I would advice MBA students to do their internship there.
Mr Muhammed talks very little. But there is humour in whatever little he talks. And he has this incredible sense of hearing. When the foursome and I bla bla bla standing by the busy KK road, he will answer from inside the shop !
The four boys are extremely disciplined. Their pleasing manners and sweet words are not any pretension. It should be right from their hearts. Otherwise those would not have reached mine. Last year when the government imposed a ban on plastic carry bags we didn't feel any difficulty.. At the K A Stores for very long, we were given things wrapped in love !!!
I enjoy going there. My only scare is Azeeb, fondly called Azee .... I mean ... his lower than the lowest waist Jeans !!! Sometimes I stand with bated breath lest it should come down !!! It is dangerously low as the ad people proudly claim !!!
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