Dahyabhai Vithaldas

Dahyabhai Vithaldas is situated at 1450, New Madhavpura. We are just outside Delhi Gate in Ahmedabad, which is why the address says O/S Delhi Gate. It’s a busy market area. You can hear the noise of the city from our front step. We’ve been around for a long time, so people in the market know our name. The shop is full of stock. We have bags and boxes stacked almost to the ceiling. It’s a bit of a maze sometimes. We know where everything is, even if it looks messy to someone else. We deal in various goods, mostly wholesale. There is always someone coming in or going out with a trolley. We don’t have a website or anything like that. People just come here or call us on the landline. We write things down in big ledgers. It works for us. My father did it this way, and we haven't seen a reason to change it. The floor is old stone and stays cool even when it’s hot outside. We have a small bench for visitors to sit on. Most people don’t stay long, they just want to get their business done and get back to their own shops. We keep the pace fast because that’s how the market moves. It’s a lot of physical work, lifting and moving things around. We’re used to it. After we close the shutters for the night, we usually spend a few minutes just sitting and breathing in the silence before heading home.