This clock hung on the wall of my grandparents’ home from who knows how many years before my father was born, and he was born in 1926. So this is an old clock.

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It hangs on a wall in our home in Auckland. I love the old things that we have held on to, because they remind me of the people with which these things were associated, and it also reminds me that one day I too will join them. In a strange way these old things are tangible reminders of grand, new, permanent, and hitherto-unseen things to come.

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This is a “genuine Indra” clock, apparently. Indra is an Indian name, but the clock was made in Japan. Who knows what the story is!

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At the back of the pendulum box is a label with the following information:

HIGH GRADE
8 DAY CLOCK
REGISTERED GENUINE INDRA TRADEMARK
MANUFACTURED BY
MEIJI
NAGOYA JAPAN

The Internet says: Meiji (pronounced “My Gee”) Clock Company was located in Nagoya, Japan. An affiliate of New York’s Ansonia Clock Company, Meiji was founded in 1895 in order to produce Ansonia style movements for clocks destined for the Far Eastern market. The Meiji Clock Company quickly progressed into clock production.

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Obviously, at some point, the clock was serviced by Sri Balaji Time Centre in South Veli St. in Madurai. This servicing may not have been too long ago, as my father did bring the clock here with him in 2009, and he had last lived in Madurai before that. About a decade before that, I believe the clock hung in the home of my uncle and aunt, also in Madurai.

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My father was meticulous when it came to winding the clock every week. I think it was on Wednesday that he did this. But, when my father went into care in 2018, I did not bother to keep the clock ticking. But all it needs to resume its long ticking routine is for someone to pop the pendulum back on and wind the clock.