Krishna Kirana Stores

If you know Ahmedabad, you know Manek Chowk is always a bit chaotic with all the traffic. Our shop, Krishna Kirana Stores, is right there opposite Piola. It is an old building and the walls are very thick. We have been selling grains and spices here for a long time now. The smell of the spices is very strong when you walk in, but I don't even notice it anymore. We get people coming from all over the city because they trust the quality of the dal and rice we keep. It is a very busy area, so there is always noise from the rickshaws and people talking outside. We don't have much space to move around inside, so we have to stack the sacks high against the walls. My sons work with me now. We start early in the morning before the traffic gets too bad. It is a lot of weighing things on the scale and tying up plastic bags for customers. We don't use any fancy packaging. Most people bring their own bags anyway. It’s the kind of place where you have to shout a bit to be heard over the street noise. Manek Chowk changes a lot at night when the food stalls come out, but we are usually heading home by then. We just do things the old-fashioned way. No fancy machines, just honest work. We’ve seen the city change a lot from this little spot over the years.