the birth of modern retail in india

Traveling through South India, made me see the places where organized retail got it's start in India. A lot of people might not realize that thanks to the money coming in from Gulf workers, shopping and retailing is a major past time in the region. The shops are well stocked with goods from all over the world and generally have a high service standard. While modern retailing formats are somewhat of a recent phenomenon (in the past 5 years) in the northern regions of the country, in South India, they have been flourishing for quite some time.