Occupation: Watch repairman
I have been running this watch shop K.K. Pillai and Sons at Sasthamangalam for 39 years now. My late father, Kuttan Pillai, was the chief mechanic at P.R and Brothers, a watch store at Statue. He was from Chenganoor. He settled down in the city upon marrying my mother, Kamalakshiamma, and started a watch shop at Statue called K.K. Pillai. My father passed away when I was 12 years old. I dropped out of school after completing class 10 and started assisting my brother, Vijayakumar at the age of 16. My parents had 11 children. Us, seven brothers, were all into watch repairing. Three of my brothers have passed away, however. One of my brothers runs a shop, now looked after by my nephew, in West Asia. I worked with my brother Vijayakumar for three years before branching out on my own. I was 19 years old when I started renting this space.
Although I do store watches at my shop, most customers come in to get the battery of their watches changed, the straps changed or for servicing their watches. I don’t enjoy working on Quartz watches; they are not challenging. In fact, I often discourage my customers from fixing their Quartz watches as most of them are made in China. Fixing the watch would probably cost more than the watch itself.
Give me the old mechanic watches any old day; in fact, the older the better. Do you remember the HMT watches? The stopping of the brand, I feel, was a hit to the middle class folks. It was affordable and reliable. Fathers would hand over this valued possession to their children and they would then give it to the next generation, keeping the watch in the family as a tradition. Although, people now rely on mobile phones to tell the time, of late I see people coming in to fix their old mechanic watches. Some ask if I store mechanic watches at my shop.
You know, there were just a handful of shops when I first started this watch shop. There was hardly any traffic. See that building on the opposite side of the road? It came up after I shifted here. I used to work late into the night in my shop in those days. Now, I pull down the shutters by 8.30 pm and head home. I no longer feel safe working late and complete my work at home. I wake up by 4 am and start working on fixing the watches. After tending to my small kitchen garden and the hens I raise in my backyard, I open shop by 10 am. As I live at Jawahar Nagar, I go home for lunch and then reopen after a short siesta. I relax after the day is done by watching the news.
Although customers request me to fix their vintage clocks, I direct them to my brother who runs a watch repair shop at Vellayambalam. He specialises in such clocks. Besides, I do not have the time for everything. While it takes a month to service a mechanical watch, a Quartz watch takes just 15 days. Yes, you do get the parts needed to repair a mechanical watch. I source the parts from a store in Chennai.
My customers are a blend of old customers and new ones. For me, customer is God, and I always welcome them with a smile. Although most of my customers are courteous, some are obnoxious and rude. I however, keep on smiling. My wife, Chandini, runs a small stitching unit at Jawahar Nagar. My son, Arun Dev and his wife, Priya, are techies. I am 58 years old and many have asked me when I will hang up my boots. While there are days when I am tempted to quit, I enjoy my work too much to do so. I don’t enjoy being idle.
