1870 A.D.
As the Indian freedom struggle was gaining momentum all over the country, Thindugal Madarsha Vappu Rowther was born in Pallapatti, a quiet village near Karur. As a modest and pious youth, he arrived in Madurai seeking education, training, and good fortune around 1880 @ 3, Ramanathapuram Road, Madurai.
By 1920, through the First World War, T.M.V. Rowther had established a successful textile business based on high principles and his own personal profile. As a gentle and contented man, he returned home to Pallapatti and engaged himself in service to the community, including the construction of a public hospital, management of a mosque, chairmanship of the panchayat, and numerous charitable works. Management of the business was duly taken over by his five illustrious sons and spread over a spectrum of activities in several places.
In sequence, a well-designed and pleasant showroom by the name of VAPSONS CLOTH STORE was established in the original premises of No. 3, Ramanathapuram Road, Madurai.
The showroom was inaugurated by C.P. Adithanar, Bar-at-Law, the founder-editor of Daily Thanthi, on 3.12.1943, Friday evening.
The management of VAPSONS CLOTH STORE was entrusted to Haji T.M.V. Abdul Wahab Sahib, the youngest son of Haji T.M.V. Rowther. Haji T.M.V. Abdul Wahab Sahib managed the business through the trying times of the Second World War, just as his father, Haji T.M.V. Rowther, faced the hard times of the First World War. Hajiani Zulaikha Beevi, one of the earliest women graduates in the 1940s and the spouse of Haji T.M.V. Abdul Wahab Sahib, had an unseen impact on the business through her moral stature and wise counsel. During the Second World War, VAPSONS was an authorised dealer supplying controlled-price clothes to ration card holders.
Haji T.M.V. Abdul Wahab Sahib, as a man of piety, principles, and perfection, earned the affection and loyalty of thousands of families and the generations that followed them.
VAPSONS TEXTILES, an equally versatile textile showroom, was started on 27.9.1981 in Palani and is being managed by his son, Haji T.V.A. Mohammed Farook, a mechanical engineer by qualification.
VAPSONS EXPORTS was established in 1986 to take care of overseas trade.
The present showroom was renovated and reopened on 20.9.1989 and is mentored by Haji T.V.A. Mohammed Iqbal Sahib, a postgraduate in Mathematics, a double gold medallist, and a memorable student of Madura College, Madurai.
So goes the story of VAPSONS—humble as the Vaigai, lofty as the Mahal, and fragrant as Madurai Malli—with the grace of the Almighty Lord.