Shyamsunder Gopaldas

Our shop is called Shyamsunder Gopaldas. We are tucked away at F-2 Dwarkesh, which is right near the Klassic Gold Hotel in Navrangpura. It’s a busy part of town and we’ve been here for quite some time now. Every morning we roll up the shutters and start the day by dusting off the shelves. There’s always a bit of dust because of all the traffic on the main road. We have stuff piled up in corners and sometimes it takes a minute to find exactly what a customer is asking for. My nephew helps me out with the heavy lifting and the accounts. We aren’t some big company with a fancy office and matching uniforms. It’s just us in our regular clothes doing the work. We get a lot of people stopping by because they’re staying at the hotel or they live nearby in Navrangpura. The tea stall guy brings us a round of cutting chai every afternoon, which is usually when we take a small break. The fan on the ceiling wobbles a bit and makes a clicking sound but it works well enough. We don't have a big marketing plan or anything like that. We just open up, talk to the people who come in, and try to keep things moving. It’s a simple life and the work is steady. We like being part of this neighborhood. We’ve seen many shops change hands over the years but we’re still here at the Dwarkesh building doing our thing.