Page 94 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition July-August 2021

SHRI CHANDRASHEKHAR

MANAY

S R GOPAL RAO, OPTICIANS

& OPTOMETRISTS, BANGALORE

(AGE 92)

CHANDRASHEKHAR YOUNG
MANAY CHANDRASHEKHAR MANAY

TIO: Let us start this feature with a brief history of your company. Please
tell us how, when and where you started this company?
Chandrashekhar Manay (CM): S.R. Gopal Rao Opticians is one of the
pioneer opticians in Bangalore, with a long-standing history backing
it. Initially, it was established in the late 1800's, under the name of S.N.
Rama Rao who was an optician, watchmaker and a dentist. He was the
personal optician to the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore and the spectacles
that he had once dispensed are till date present amongst the Maharaja’s
belongings in his private museum.

The business was rebranded as S.R. Gopal Rao Opticians & Optometrists
(SRGR) in 1936, by S.R. Gopal Rao, the son of (S.N. Rama Rao). He became
the first qualified Optometrist in Bangalore and through his earnest
efforts and hard work the business flourished and escalated to higher
standards. His reputation reached far and wide, so much so that he had
patients consulting him from across Mysore State (erstwhile Karnataka).

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