Walking through the doors of Cedees Pujak & Co in RS Puram is like stepping into a time machine. Inside, slow rock music plays unobtrusively in the background. Cassettes line the shelves along the walls with names such as Engirundho Vandhan, Muthu Kulikka Vaarieyala, Chella Kiliye Mella Pesu, The Official Album of 2002 FIFA World Cup, Rock Shocks, Freeek!, Primal Scream and more.
VCDs and CDs are arranged on two other shelves while a corner is reserved for LP records that are over 40 years old. Tape recorders, amplifiers, and three-in-one stereo systems wait to come back to life nearby.
Pujak is one of the oldest music shops in the city, and has been around for 55 years. Carlyle D’Silva, the owner, has been catering to the needs of music lovers across generations from the time he was 18. The 72-year-old also does DJing at events, hotels, and restobars in the city, travelling to Ooty, Coonoor, and Kochi with his music.
“Pujak was started by three friends who used to play tennis together,” he says. Purushotham, Jaganatha Alva, and Kuroshi, who named the shop with the first letters of their names, also sold steel furniture and were distributors for Needle Industries’ gramophone needles. “The first store was located on Avinashi Road, opposite to the Thandu Mariamman Temple,” recalls Carlyle. He was in college when the shop ran into trouble for lack of funding. “My father had lent them some money and eventually, we were asked if we can take over.”
At Cedees Pujak & Co, a music store at RS Puram in Coimbatore
| Photo Credit:
SIVA SARAVANAN S
Carlyle was 18 when he signed on the dotted line that made him the owner of a shop that would go on to do thriving business. “Annakili, that introduced Ilaiyaraaja as music director, had just released,” he recalls. With Tamil Nadu warming up to a new wave of music and Ilaiyaraaja offering hit after hit, it was the perfect time to be in the business.
“I had always been a music lover, so it all fell in place,” he says. He enjoyed songs from movies such as Udaya Geetham and Idaya Kovil even as Abba and Boney M were winning hearts in the west. Carlyle lapped up all of them, including MS Viswanathan and RD Burman. “We sold Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and English music,” he recalls. Their LP records, for instance, came from HMV in Chennai.
Carlyle is also a DJ and enjoys travelling with his DJ gear for weddings and parties.
| Photo Credit:
SIVA SARAVANAN S
Carlyle got to witness firsthand the evolution of music. “There was a transition every ten years,” he recalls. “From LP records in the 70s, we moved to cassettes in the 80s, followed by CDs in the 90s to VCDs, pen drives, and now, mobile phones.” While today, he services tape recorders and stereo sets apart from DJing, Carlyle does digital audio and video conversion.
His collection, he says, is in demand among music connoisseurs who own good quality music systems. Carlyle explains that the MP3 format tends to compress high frequency to low frequency modulations. “Only ardent music lovers will be able to tell the difference though,” he says.
The best part about being in the business, according to him, is the conversations surrounding music. “Most people who walk in are those who are genuinely interested in music,” he says, adding that over the years, several of his customers have turned friends.
Carlyle enjoys travelling with his DJ gear for weddings and parties. With his three children settled abroad, he spends most of his time in the company of his music. The first thing he does when he walks into his shop every day is pick something to play. “When I’m DJing, I’m surrounded by the energy of people who sing along and dance,” he says.
This way of life — one in which every day starts and ends with music — keeps him going. Which is perhaps why Carlyle is always quick to smile, his demeanour calm and composed. He vows to continue in this line of work. “I started this shop, and will keep it running as long as I’m around,” he says.
Located at 29-C, D B Road, RS Puram, Coimbatore
Published – June 30, 2026 03:24 pm IST
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