Diksha General Store

Diksha General Store is a small spot in the Baluganj area of Agra. We are located right at Balu Ganj, with the pincode 282001. Living and working in Agra means we are very used to seeing tourists, but our shop is mostly for the local people who actually live in these narrow lanes. We carry all the usual things like shampoos, snacks, different types of pulses, and household cleaning stuff. The shop is tucked away a bit, so it actually stays a little cooler than the main streets during the harsh summers we get here in Uttar Pradesh. We have a couple of wooden stools where people sometimes sit for a minute to talk about the weather or some local news. It’s not a fancy place with any air conditioning or bright signs. We just have a simple counter and a lot of stock piled up high toward the ceiling. Every morning, we check what we sold the day before and make a little list of what we need to get from the bigger market. Sometimes the supply trucks have a lot of trouble getting through the narrow parts of Balu Ganj, so we have to go out and fetch things ourselves on a scooter. We have been here long enough that we feel like we are just part of the neighborhood’s walls. Our day is basically just helping people find what they need for their dinner or their house. It’s a quiet, steady kind of work.