Gulab Jain General Merchant

This shop is tucked away in Peepal Mandi on Rawat Paada Road. If you know Agra, you know how crowded these streets get with the rickshaws and people walking everywhere. We have been in this spot for a long time. The wooden counter is worn down at the edges where people rest their hands while waiting. We deal with a lot of wholesalers, so there are always boxes stacked up in the corners. It can be a bit of a maze inside if we just got a big delivery. We have pulses, grains, and all the basic stuff for the house. The air smells like a mix of dried chilies and laundry soap. I usually wear a simple cotton shirt and spend the day counting change. There is an old clock on the wall that loses five minutes every week, but we don't mind. We don't use those fancy barcode scanners, just a pen and paper. Sometimes the neighborhood kids come in for a single piece of gum. The street outside is always noisy with bells and horns, but inside it feels a bit more familiar. We have a small stool for the older folks to sit on if they get tired. It is just a regular merchant shop like the ones our fathers had. We do what we can to keep the shelves full and the floor swept. Sometimes I take a nap in the afternoon.